Canada Unemployment Rate Drops To 5%

January 6 – New Statistics Canada data shows that the unemployment rate decreased to 5% in December as compared to November 2022.

This unemployment rate is just above the record low of 4.9% recorded in June and July of 2022.

Sectors	December 2022 (in thousands)	%Age Change November to December 2022
Employees	17098.0	+ 0.5%
Public sector employees	4243.5	– 0.4%
Private sector employees	12854.5	+ 0.9%
Self-employed	2672.3	+ 0.4%

Overall, employment increased by 104,000 (+0.5%) in the month of December 2022.

Province-Wise Unemployment Rate In Canada

Provinces	Unemployment rate	Monthly changes (in pts)
Ontario	5.3%	– 0.2
Alberta	5.8%	No Change
British Columbia	4.2%	– 0.2
Quebec	4.0%	+ 0.2
Manitoba	4.4%	No Change
Saskatchewan	4.1%	– 0.1
New Brunswick	8.1%	+ 0.8
Nova Scotia	6.7%	+ 0.7
Prince Edward Island	5.6%	– 1.2
Newfoundland and Labrador	10.1%	– 0.6

In December, employment rose in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan. The other provinces saw minimal change.

Employees absent due to illness or disability were at 8.1% of the time in December, up from 6.8% in November.

This was greater than the pre-pandemic December average of 6.9% observed from 2017 to 2019.

Employment among young people aged 15 to 24 increased by 69,000 (+2.7%) in the last month of 2022.

There was a rise in full-time employment among non-students as well as an increase in part-time employment among students.

Industry-Wise Employment In Canada

Industry	December 2022 (in thousands)	%Age Change November to December 2022
Wholesale and retail trade	2855.3	-0.3
Health care and social assistance	2608.0	-0.7
Professional, scientific and technical services	1844.0	1.3
Manufacturing	1754.9	-0.4
Construction	1544.3	2.3
Educational services	1483.8	-0.7
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing	1362.9	0.2
Public administration	1154.6	0.9
Accommodation and food services	1099.0	1.2
Transportation and warehousing	1013.4	3.0
Information, culture and recreation	840.0	3.1
Other services (except public administration)	757.6	1.3
Business, building and other support services	711.9	0.4
Natural resources	334.8	-0.6
Agriculture	260.6	0.5
Utilities	145.3	-2.9

The number of construction workers increased by 35,000 (+2.3%). Increases were recorded in four provinces, with Ontario (+16,000; +2.7%) and Alberta (+13,000; +5.8%) leading the way.

Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 29,000 (+3.0%) in December, recouping 18,000 lost in September and marking the industry’s first significant growth since November 2021.

Furthermore, employment in information, culture, and leisure increased by 25,000 (+3.1%) in December, following a 16,000 increase in November.

The number of individuals employed in professional, scientific, and technical services increased by 23,000 (+1.3%), with growth concentrated in Ontario (+22,000; +2.8%).

There were also more persons employed in accommodation and food services (+13,000; +1.2%), public administration (+11,000; +0.9%), and “other services” (+10,000; +1.3%).

However, employment in healthcare and social assistance dropped (-17,000; -0.7%), despite a record high number of job openings in the business in recent months.