The Canadian labour market experienced a series of nuanced shifts in June 2024, with the overall employment landscape remaining largely unchanged, yet showing significant sectoral and demographic variations. According to the latest Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada, the national unemployment rate edged up to 6.4%, marking a 0.2 percentage point increase from May and continuing an upward trend observed since April 2023.
Overall employment in Canada saw a negligible decrease of 1,400 jobs in June, maintaining a virtually static employment rate of 61.1%. This is the eighth decline in the past nine months, underscoring a persistent downward trajectory. On a year-over-year basis, employment grew by 1.7%, adding 343,000 jobs. Public sector employment outpaced the private sector, with a 4.3% increase compared to a 0.8% rise in the private sector.
Certain industries exhibited notable shifts. Employment in transportation and warehousing fell for the second consecutive month, down by 12,000 jobs in June. Similarly, public administration saw a decline of 8,800 jobs, the first since August 2023. Conversely, accommodation and food services experienced a robust increase of 17,000 jobs, and agriculture added 12,000 positions, marking its first rise since July 2023.
Youth employment continued to decline, with young men aged 15 to 24 experiencing a significant drop of 13,000 jobs, equating to a 0.9% decrease. The employment rate for this age group has fallen sharply by 4.4 percentage points since April 2023, standing at 54.8% in June. In contrast, employment for core-aged women (25 to 54) rose by 19,000 jobs, a 0.3% increase, though their employment rate held steady at 80.6%.
The labour market for returning students was particularly challenging. The employment rate for students aged 15 to 24 was at its lowest point since June 1998, excluding 2020, at 46.8%. The unemployment rate for this group surged to 15.9%, a 3.8 percentage point increase from the previous year, indicating heightened difficulty in securing summer employment.
Provincially, Quebec saw the largest decline in employment, losing 18,000 jobs in June. This reduction contributed to an increase in the unemployment rate to 5.7%. In contrast, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador posted employment gains of 3,000 and 2,600 jobs, respectively. These increases helped stabilize the unemployment rates in these provinces, with New Brunswick at 7.7% and Newfoundland and Labrador at 9.2%.
Ontario’s employment remained relatively stable; however, the unemployment rate rose to 7.0%, reflecting a growing number of job seekers.
Average hourly wages in Canada continued to climb, increasing by 5.4% year-over-year in June, reaching an average of $34.91. This growth was slightly higher than the 5.1% increase observed in May. Wage gains were broad-based across the wage distribution, with notable increases at both the bottom and top quartiles.
Despite the positive wage trend, total hours worked decreased by 0.4% in June, though they were up 1.1% compared to the same month last year.