The unemployment rate in Canada ticked up slightly to 5.8 per cent in February, Statistics Canada announced Friday, as a surge in immigration outpaced a rise in new jobs.
The statistics office said the economy created 41,000 jobs last month, 4,000 more than in January, with unemployment “relatively stable” at 5.8 per cent in three of the last four months. Last month’s figure was 5.7 per cent.
But rapid population growth, fueled largely by immigration, has outstripped the increase in jobs, the federal agency said. Canada’s population passed 40 million in June, and an additional half-million immigrants are expected this year.
February’s biggest employment bumps were in the provinces of Alberta (up 0.7 per cent) and Nova Scotia (1.2 per cent), while Manitoba slipped by 0.7 per cent.
Some sectors saw larger than average employment gains, notably accommodation and food services (up 2.4 per cent) and professional, scientific and technical services (up 0.9 per cent).
Average hourly wages were five per cent higher than a year earlier.
“Overall, the data on employment in February is a bit of a mixed bag,” Desjardins Bank economist Royce Mendes said in a note.
“Gains in employment were not enough to keep up with population growth. So, while it’s good news that the economy was able to add more jobs… slack in the labour market continues to accumulate.”
Given that, Mendes said, the country’s central bank is likely to maintain caution on interest rates, likely beginning to lower them only in June.
The Bank of Canada said Wednesday that with inflationary pressures continuing, it was holding its key interest rate at five per cent.
