Canada lost 17,000 jobs in May and unemployment rate rose to 5.2%

Young people were particularly hard hit by the fall in employment in May, with 77,000 jobs lost among workers aged 15 to 24. However, the decline was offset by the creation of 63,000 jobs among adults aged 25 to 54.

These job losses pushed the country’s youth unemployment rate up 1.1 percentage points from 10.7% last May.

It was the first time Canada’s unemployment rate has risen since August 2022, despite the Bank of Canada’s nine key rate hikes since 2022 in an effort to slow rising inflation and a overheating economy.

The declines recorded in May mainly affected business services, construction support services and professional, scientific and technical services.

Manufacturing and utility jobs increased during this period.

In Quebec, employment remained stable in May, with the province also recording a slight decrease in the unemployment rate, which reached 4% in May from 4.1% in April. 19,000 jobs were created in the Montreal area in particular. Employment also increased in Manitoba, with 8,200 jobs added last month.

This was mainly in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, where the largest employment declines occurred in May. Other provinces saw little change, Statistics Canada said.

In Ontario, there were 24,000 fewer jobs in May compared to April and a 0.6 point increase in the unemployment rate, which stood at 5.5%.

Nova Scotia lost 5,200 jobs during this period. however, As the number of Nova Scotians in the labor force fell, the province’s unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 5.7%.nuance Statistics Canada.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment ended May with a negative balance of 4,200 jobs.