Employment in Canada Edges Higher in February; Unemployment Holds Steady at 5.0%

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported today (3-10-23) that in February employment increased by 22,000, or 0.1%. This follows two consecutive monthly gains, December was up 69,000, or 0.3%, and January was up 150,000, or 0.8%. Employment has trended upward since September 2022, and there were 348,000 (1.8%) more employed persons in Canada in February than in August 2022.

Employment grew by 15,000 (0.6%) in health care and social assistance, while public administration added 10,000 jobs (0.9%) and utilities increased by 7,500 jobs (5.0%).

The unemployment rate in February held steady at 5.0%, just shy of the record-low of 4.9% that was recorded in June and July of 2022. According to StatCan, there were just over 1.0 million unemployed persons in Canada in February, virtually unchanged from January. Most unemployed people (67.6%) in February had been unemployed for 13 weeks or less. The proportion who had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more—the long term unemployed—was 14.4%, down from 18.3% a year earlier.