Canada’s unemployment rate rose slightly in June to 6.4 per cent as hiring stalled amid strong population growth, the government said Friday.
The 0.2 percentage point increase in the jobless rate continued an upward trend that started in April 2023.
A net loss of 1,400 jobs in June was a weaker than expected outcome following little change in Canada’s employment situation the previous month, Desjardins analyst Royce Mendes said in a research note.
“The sharp rise in the unemployment rate [from a low of 4.8 per cent in July 2022] will have many questioning whether Canada has entered a recession,” he continued.
Statistics Canada suggested in a statement that “people are facing greater difficulties finding work in the current labour market.”
The agency pointed to data showing the proportion of long-term unemployed Canadians has risen alongside the rising unemployment rate.
This appeared to be the case especially for older unemployed persons aged 55 or older, who on average have now been jobless for 27 weeks or more, it said.
Youth unemployment was also up in the month, hitting young men the hardest.
Wages, meanwhile, continued to rise at a brisk pace.
Overall, the number of people working in transportation and warehousing, as well as in public administration, declined in June, while more people were employed in accommodation and food services, and in agriculture.
Canada’s population, meanwhile, surpassed 41 million on April 1, up by one million in the past 10 months as immigration surged.
