Employment in Quebec rose significantly by 1.1% in January, and the unemployment rate continues to hover near record lows, this time settling at 3.9%.
It is also in the Belle Province that we see the lowest unemployment rate in the country, said Statistics Canada in its report published Friday.
With a jump of just over 47,000 jobs in January, employment in Quebec experienced its third major increase since September. At the same time, the province recorded one of the strongest increases in the country.
While full-time jobs saw a more modest rise (0.8%), part-time jobs rose 2.4% in January. Thus, there are 28,000 additional full-time positions and 19,300 part-time.
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“In Quebec, while the early signals of the economy point to a probable recession, the labor market is showing surprising resilience for the moment,” said Florence Jean-Jacobs, senior economist at Desjardins.
Among the 15 to 24 year olds, employment has changed little (+1,700; 0.3%), while an increase is observed among the 25 year olds and over, as much for men (+24,800; 1.2 %) than that of women (+20,900; 1.1%).
“The context of an aging workforce and shortage of workers seems to be mitigating the shocks of an economic slowdown on the labor market so far,” said Ms.me Jean-Jacobs.
In the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Montreal, employment (+0.7%) and the unemployment rate (+0.1%) varied little, indicates the federal agency.
What about Canada?
In Canada, employment increased by 150,000 (0.8%), while the unemployment rate remained at 5%. The latter therefore remains close to the record low reached in June and July.
“This continued the upward trend in total employment that began in September 2022, with cumulative increases totaling 326,000 (+1.7%),” says Statistics Canada.
This increase in employment in the country was mainly observed in the sectors of wholesale and retail trade (59,000; 2.0%), health care and social assistance (+40,000; 1.5 %) as well as in educational services (+18,000; 1.7%).
Although the unemployment rate fell slightly among 25 to 54 year olds (-0.1%) and remained stable among 15 to 24 year olds, there was a 0.2% increase among 55 year olds and more.
“Compared to a year earlier, the unemployment rate was down across all major demographic groups,” the federal agency said.