Canadian Unemployment Falls to New Record Low in June

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported on Thursday (8-18-22) that, according to the Labor Force Survey (LFS), unemployment in Canada fell by 54,000 (5.1%) in June. The decline has resulted in a record low unemployment rate of 4.9%. The total number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in June was 486,000, which is 7,000 (1.4%) below May’s totals.

The report also notes that employment also fell in June, down 43,000 (0.2%), and the participation rate—the share of the working age population who were either employed or unemployed—dropped 0.4 percentage points to 64.9%.

During the first six months of 2022, labor market conditions in Canada grew increasingly tight. Although employment fell in June, as noted above, it rose by a cumulative total of 221,000 (1.1%) in the first half of the year. Despite this strong employment growth, employers were seeking to fill just over 1 million (1,005,700) vacant positions at the beginning of May, highlighting months of persistently elevated levels of unmet labor demand.