Canadian Unemployment Increases 0.6% in January to 9.4%

Statistics Canada (StatCan) is reporting that January employment fell by 213,000 or -1.2%. The decline in January followed a 53,000 decline or -0.3% in December, bring employment to its lowest level since August 2020. Most of the January losses were in part-time work and concentrated in the Ontario and Quebec retail sectors and in Newfoundland and Labrador. As a result, the unemployment rate rose 0.6% to 9.4%, the highest rate since August 2020. January’s declines were centered in three services-producing industries all which were impacted by new and continuing public health restrictions—accommodation and food services (-8.2%), retail trade (-7.4%), and information, culture and recreation (-2.4%). On a positive note, employment increased in in Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and held steady in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.