June 11, 2022

According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, employment increased in May mainly in the service sector, where 81,000 jobs were created. However, these gains were undermined by the loss of 41,000 jobs, which occurred mainly in the goods sector, particularly in manufacturing.

This translates to a net increase of 40,000 new jobs in the country last month, an increase of 0.2%.

The rise in employment was mainly attributable to an increase in full-time work among young women and core-aged womenreports Statistics Canada.

It was mainly in the wholesale and retail trade that the gains were concentrated.

Long-term unemployment, that is, people looking for work or laid off for 27 weeks or more, accounted for 19.7% of total unemployment in May, down from 15.6% in February 2020, i.e. before the start of the pandemic.

Alberta has particularly benefited from this increase in employment, according to the federal agency, which also notes drops in unemployment in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia.

In Quebec, following reaching a record low last month at 3.9%the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points in May to 4.2%. As more people were active in the labor market and employment was little changed, the unemployment rate roseexplains Statistics Canada in its May Labor Force Survey 2022.

In Ontario, the unemployment rate remained relatively stable, dropping from 5.4% in April to 5.5% in May.

Despite a historically low unemployment rate, Canada has had to contend for months with a major inflationary outbreak coupled with a national labor shortage. This of course has an effect on wages.

According to Statistics Canada, the average hourly wage increased by 3.9% in Canada last May compared to May 2021. The increase had been 3.3% in April.

The average hourly wage increased by approximately $1.18 to reach $31.12 today. However, this increase in remuneration is far from compensating for the 6.8% inflation measured in Canada last April.

In the eyes of Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of BMO Capital Markets, the labor market was still in very good shape in May.

« There is really nothing in this report to dissuade the Bank of Canada from maintaining its aggressive tone and moving forward with further aggressive rate hikes. »

The Bank of Canada last week raised its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.5% in a bid to help rein in inflation, which is at its highest level in three decades. .

When it raised its key rate, the central bank explained that it was ready to act more forcefully if necessary, suggesting that it might raise rates even more quickly, in particular by imposing a three-quarters increase on them. percentage point, recalled Mr. Reitzes.

I don’t think there’s anything in this jobs report that urges them to be even more aggressive than that, but it certainly won’t deter them.he estimated.