As wages struggled to keep pace with rising inflation, there was little change in either full-time or part-time employment across Canada last month. However, according to Statistics Canada’s labour force survey, the country’s unemployment rate sat in record territory for the fourth straight month.
The latest survey from StatsCan, released Friday, showed national employment falling by 43,000 positions in June, while Canada’s unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points, to another record low of 4.9 percent.
StatsCan says the modest decline in unemployment comes as fewer people look for work, almost entirely in the 55-and-older age bracket.
June’s Labour Force Survey showed employment down nationally, the first monthly employment decline not associated with a tightening of public health restrictions since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Across industries, a decline for workers in the services-producing sector, particularly in retail trade, was somewhat offset by employment gains in goods-producing sectors.
June also marked the first employment decline not associated with a tightening of public health restrictions since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
PEI outpacing Atlantic Canada
PEI registered an employment increase of 1,600, (up 1.9 percent) for the second consecutive month in June and saw its unemployment rate fall 2.9 percentage points to a record low of 4.9 percent.
StatsCan noted the employment increase for PEI in June was spread across several industries, including wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food services. That increase comes amid a familiar hiring surge for seasonal tourism- and travel-related businesses, sectors that made up nearly half of full-time job gains.
New Brunswick’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent last month, a full percentage point drop from May, but the province still registered a similar decline in overall employment. StatsCan shows the province’s participation rate, (the number of people aged 15 or over looking for work), declining by 0.8 percent in June.
Nova Scotia’s June labour force numbers were little changed.
The province’s unemployment rate edged up three-tenths of a percent to 7.0 last month, as modest declines in full-time work were partially offset by increases in part-time employment, particularly across services sectors.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment fell by 4,300, down 1.9 percent in June, partly offsetting gains recorded in April and May.
Among Maritime cities, only Saint John showed a higher unemployment rate last month, (7.4 percent), up two-tenths of a percent from May.
Wage growth accelerates
Average hourly wages rose 5.2 percent across the country, up $1.54 to $31.24/hour on a year-over-year basis in June (non-seasonally adjusted) compared with a year-over-year increase of 3.9 percent in May.
The pace still lags behind the rate of inflation, with the most recent StatsCan report on the Consumer Price Index showing inflation also grew to 7.7 percent on a year-over-year basis in May.
Wage growth in Canada has accelerated particularly among non-unionized workers.
In StatsCan tracking last month, the average hourly wages of all employees who had union coverage were up 3.7 percent ( up $1.21 to $34.32./hour) on a year-over-year basis, compared with 6.1 percent (up $1.71 to $29.90/hour) for employees who did not.
It also stated in this month’s survey that recent differences in the wage growth of unionized versus non-unionized employees were also reflected in differences in wage growth across industries in June. StatsCan said none of the three industries with the highest levels of unionization recorded above-average annual growth.
Those top three industries were health care and social assistance (up 4.2 percent to $30.68/hour), educational services (up 2.5 percent to $36.73/hour); and public administration (up 2.5 percent to $39.97/hour).
Comparing that to the professional, scientific and technical services industry, where fewer than 1 in 20 employees has union coverage, wages were up 9.9 percent (up $3.59 to $39.99/hour) year-over-year in June.
Student employment above pre-pandemic levels
Last month also saw conditions continue to be good for students in the summer job market.
StatsCan reported its first indicators of the summer job market in its June survey, on youth aged 15 to 24 who not only identified as full-time students in March, but who also intend to return to school full-time in September.
The national employment rate among returning students aged 15 to 24 was higher in June (53.2 percent) than before the pandemic in June 2019 (51.2 percent).
It attributed a large portion of the increase to female students aged 20 to 24, more than three-quarters (76.0 percent) of whom were working last month. It’s also the highest June employment rate on record for the group since comparable data was available in 1977.
The employment rate of male students aged 20 to 24 was only 68.8 percent in June, unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic rate.
Tyler Mclean is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
