Ontario Unemployment Rate Drops To 4.9% | New StatCan Data

Last Updated On 5 May 2023, 7:43 PM EDT (Toronto Time)

Ontario Unemployment rate drops by 0.2% to 4.9% in the month of April 2023, the lowest since October 1989.

Furthermore, overall unemployment rate in Canada remained unchanged at 5%.

Today, Statistics Canada released employment data for the month of April 2023 stating that employment in Canada increased by 41,000 (+0.2%), all of which were part-time jobs.

Economist with Capital Economics, Stephen Brown says that much of the job growth is being driven by high levels of immigration, which is helping to reduce vacancies for companies while keeping the unemployment rate stable.

In Ontario, employment increased by 33,000 (+0.4%) in April, bringing the province’s total growth since September 2022 to 205,000 (+2.7%).

Over this period, full-time employment climbed by 122,000 (+1.9%), while part-time employment increased by 82,000 (+6.2%).

Class of worker	Mar 23	Apr 23	% change
Public sector employees	4,205,400	4,218,700	+0.3 ⬆
Private sector employees	13,228,300	13,237,500	+0.1 ⬆
Self-employed	2,655,000	2,674,100	+0.7 ⬆

In April, the unemployment rate in the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA) remained unchanged at 5.5%.

The unemployment rate in the other CMAs in the province ranged from 3.3% in Guelph to 6.7% in Windsor (three-month moving averages).

What is “Jobful Recession”

According to Stephen Brown (Capital Economics’ deputy chief North America), increase in part-time work might keep total employment numbers stable even as the economy slows.

He predicts a “jobful recession,” in which Canadians cling on to lower-paying employment even while the economy declines for a few quarters.

“This is almost like a situation where if we have a recession, it will look like a recession in the statistics, but it won’t necessarily feel like a recession,” he adds.

Province-Wise Unemployment Rate

Geography	Unemployment Rate	Monthly Change
Canada	5%	Unchanged
Alberta	5.9%	+0.2 ⬆
British Columbia	5%	+0.5 ⬆
Manitoba	4.8%	+0.1 ⬆
New Brunswick	6.1%	+0.3 ⬆
Newfoundland and Labrador	10.1%	-0.2 ⬇
Nova Scotia	6.3%	+0.6 ⬆
Ontario	4.9%	-0.2 ⬇
Prince Edward Island	7.1%	+0.5 ⬆
Quebec	4.1%	-0.1 ⬇
Saskatchewan	4.8%	+0.1 ⬆

Province-Wise Number of Jobs

Geography	Employment	Monthly Change
Canada	20,130,000	+0.2% ⬆
Ontario	7,919,000	+0.4% ⬆
Quebec	4,505,000	+0.2% ⬆
British Columbia	2,779,000	+0.1% ⬆
Alberta	2,443,000	-0.1% ⬇
Manitoba	687,000	-0.6% ⬇
Saskatchewan	588,000	Unchanged
Nova Scotia	497,000	+0.3% ⬆
New Brunswick	384,000	-0.5% ⬇
Newfoundland and Labrador	238,000	+0.1% ⬆
Prince Edward Island	90,000	+2.5% ⬆

Industry-Wise Number of Jobs

Industry	Mar 23	Apr 23	% change
Information, culture and recreation	832,800	848,900	1.9
Transportation and warehousing	1,014,100	1,030,600	1.6
Educational services	1,473,200	1,487,700	1.0
Wholesale and retail trade	2,955,000	2,979,400	0.8
Natural resources	318,800	320,600	0.6
Construction	1,590,600	1,597,600	0.4
Manufacturing	1,792,500	1,795,300	0.2
Health care and social assistance	2,640,000	2,641,000	0.0
Public administration	1,185,000	1,185,200	0.0
Professional, scientific and technical services	1,869,700	1,863,600	-0.3
Accommodation and food services	1,122,400	1,117,300	-0.5
Other services (except public administration)	749,400	746,000	-0.5
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing	1,404,700	1,395,900	-0.6
Agriculture	260,300	257,000	-1.3
Utilities	155,300	153,300	-1.3
Business, building and other support services	724,900	710,900	-1.9

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