Canadian Unemployment Inched Higher in May

Posted on July 23, 2023

Statistics Canada (StatCan) on Thursday (7-20-23) reported that the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) increased by 9,800, or 2.5%, to 399,000 in May. This is the first increase in EI since July 2022.

The increase was driven by a spike in Quebec, up 10.2%, and British Columbia, up 6.1%. Meanwhile, the number of regular EI beneficiaries fell in the four Atlantic provinces.

According to the Labor Force Survey (LFS), the unemployment rate in Canada increased 0.2 percentage points to 5.2% in May. This marks the first increase since August 2022.

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