After stabilizing in April, employment numbers are rising again in Canada, according to data from Statistics Canada’s most recent Labor Force Survey (LFS).
This increase is linked to the increase in full-time work among young women aged 18 to 24 (53,000, an increase of 10%) and among women aged 25 to 54 (63,000, an increase 1.2%). It mainly concerns wholesale and retail trade and has been concentrated in Alberta.
Employment also rose in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, while it fell in New Brunswick and was little changed in the other provinces.
Statistics Canada observes that the number of employees in the public sector increased by 108,000 in May. This trend can be explained by the increase in the number of employees in educational services, health care and social assistance.
The number of workers in the private sector, meanwhile, fell by 95,000, mainly due to fewer people working in manufacturing.
Increase among minority groups
Statistics Canada notes a notable increase in employment among First Nations women over the past year, an increase of 10.4 percentage points to 70.1%.
The number of jobs for the South Asian female group increased by 6.3 percentage points, and the employment rate rose to 75.2%. Among mixed-race men, the EPA reveals that the latter increased by 4.9 percentage points to reach 84.1%, and increased by 4.0 percentage points to reach 91.4% among Filipino men.
Several factors may explain these changes in employment rates among minority groups, such as variations in the composition of employment by sector and occupation.
Unemployment rate drops to record low
The unemployment rate fell slightly from April (0.1 percentage point) and stood at 5.1%, a new record low, for the third consecutive month.
The adjusted unemployment rate – which includes people who wanted a job but did not look for one – fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.0%. This is the lowest rate recorded since similar data began to be released in 1976.
In addition, long-term unemployment accounted for 19.7% of all unemployment in May. This indicator is up compared to February 2020.