Employment was little changed in May (+27,000; +0.1%) and the employment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 61.3%. The unemployment rate reached 6.2% in May, increasing by 0.1 percentage point on a monthly basis and 0.9 percentage point on a yearly basis.
Employment rose for young women ages 15-24 (+48,000; +3.7%) and for women ages 55 and older (+21,000; +1.1%) in May. Meanwhile, employment declined among middle-aged women (ages 25-54) (-4,000; -0.6%) and young people (-23,000; -1.6%).
Employment rose in May in health care and social assistance (+30,000; +1.1%), finance, insurance, real estate, and rental (+29,000; +2.0%), and business, construction, and other support services (+19,000; +2.7%), as well as Accommodation and food services (+13,000; +1.1%). They decreased in the construction (-30,000; -1.9%), transportation and storage (-21,000; -1.9%) and utilities (-5,400; -3.5%) sectors.
Employment rose in May in Ontario (+50,000; +0.6%), Manitoba (+7,800; +1.1%), and Saskatchewan (+5,400; +0.9%), while there were declines in Alberta (-2,000; -0.8%) %), Newfoundland and Labrador (-2,100; -0.9%) and Prince Edward Island (-1,100; -1.2%). There was no significant change in the remaining governorates
Total hours worked were unchanged in May and rose 1.6% compared to the previous 12 months. Average hourly earnings among employees rose 5.1% (+$1.69 to $34.94) year over year in May, after 4.7% growth in April (not seasonally adjusted).
The employment rate for returning students ages 20-24 was 61.0% in May, 2.9 percentage points lower than in May 2023 (63.9%) (not seasonally adjusted)
Employment stabilized in May after an increase in April
The total number of employees was little changed in May (+27,000; +0.1%), after an increase of 90,000 (+0.4%) in April. On an annual basis, employment rose by 402,000 (+2.0%) in May. Part-time employment rose by 62,000 (+1.7%) in May, while full-time employment decreased (-36,000; -0.2%). On an annual basis, part-time employment (+3.8%; +140,000) rose faster than full-time employment (+1.6%; +263,000).
The employment rate — the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who is working — fell 0.1 percentage point to 61.3% in May, the seventh decline in the past eight months. Compared to the recent increase of 62.4% in January and February 2023,
More people are working part-time at their main jobs: While many workers in Canada work part-time (defined as working less than 30 hours per week) as a matter of choice, others do so involuntarily. Increases in involuntary part-time can occur as a result of business or economic circumstances, and may be an indicator of underemployment. The involuntary part-time working rate – the proportion of part-time workers who were unable to find a full-time job or who worked part-time due to poor working conditions – was 18.2% in May, up from 15.4% recorded 12 months earlier.
In May, the share of involuntary part-time workers rose year over year among certain demographic groups. The percentage increased by 2.9 percentage points to 22.6% among women aged 25 to 54 years, and an increase of 2.4 percentage points to 10.4% among women aged 55 years and older. In addition, a larger proportion of young people (ages 15-24) worked part-time involuntarily in May (17.7%), an increase of 5.6 percentage points compared to May 2023 (not seasonally adjusted)
The youth employment rate was unchanged in May, down compared to the same month a year earlier
The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 6.2% in May. The unemployment rate has trended upward since April 2023, rising by 1.1 percentage points during this period. There were 1.4 million unemployed in May 2024, an increase of 28,000 (+2.1%) on the previous month. Among those unemployed in April 2024, just under a quarter (24.0%) moved into work in May (not seasonally adjusted). This was lower than the pre-pandemic average for the same months in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (31.5%).
A lower proportion of the unemployed moving into work may indicate that people are having greater difficulties finding work in the current labor market. Long-term unemployment – of those who have been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more – was 18.2% in May, up from a recent low of 13.2% in August 2023.
 and the employment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 61.3%.){kind=link}