Canadian Employment Rises by 8,200 in December; Unemployment at 6.8%

On Friday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that Canadian employment rose by 8,200 jobs in December, following three consecutive monthly increases in September, October, and November that totaled 181,000 jobs (0.9%).

The gain in December was driven by full-time work, which rose by 50,000 positions (0.3%).

Part-time employment declined by 42,000 jobs (1.1%), partially offsetting a cumulative gain of 148,000 positions (3.9%) recorded in October and November. Over the 12 months through December, part-time employment increased by 99,000 jobs (2.6%), outpacing full-time employment growth of 128,000 jobs (0.7%).

StatCan reported little change in the number of private-sector employees, public-sector employees, and self-employed workers.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 6.8%, as more people searched for work. The increase partially offset a cumulative decline of 0.6 percentage points recorded over the previous two months.

There were 1.6 million unemployed people in December, up 73,000, or 4.9%, from November.