Thomas Unemployment Rate Falls to 7% In May

Manitoba’s unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level in country in May after the local economy posted a net gain of almost 3,000 new jobs during the month, new Statistics Canada data show.

There’s a section in Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey report that features comparisons with USA results. (It noted the sum in individual categories may not always add up to the total due to rounding). 8 per cent with employment falling by over 24,000 jobs.

Waterloo Region’s unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month, sitting at 5.5 per cent for the month of May.

The jobless rate was an even 7% in May, down from 7.3% in April.

Nationally, employment rose by 19,400 in public administration, boosted in part by workers the government hired to conduct a census, Statistics Canada said.

And there is one noteable caveat to today’s jobs report: It does not take into account the wildfires in northern Alberta, which took enormous amounts of oil production offline last month.

Advertisment Canada’s economy added 14,000 jobs in May, a better-than-expected number that pushed the unemployment rate down two points to 6.9%. The biggest drops were seen in the resources and construction sectors.

The number of hours worked in Alberta fell by over five per cent, the largest monthly decline in 30 years.

The agency said, across the country, there were more jobs in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, while they disappeared in Alberta and Nova Scotia.

The story was different nationwide as the headline job numbers beat economists’ expectations.

As a huge wildfire raged, Alberta’s labour market continued to struggle last month – job losses mounted, the unemployment rate surged and total hours worked hit their lowest mark in 30 years. 40,000 full-time positions were gone, despite a gain in part-time work by 16,000. The number of people employed in jobs paying regular weekly or biweekly wages rose 24,800, while the ranks of the self-employed, who tend to be independent contractors or freelancers, declined by 11,100.

As a technical note, from May through August, Statistics Canada – as it has always done in the past – will be monitoring the work-related activities of individuals in the overall population aged 15 to 24 who have been attending school and are intending to return to academic studies in the fall.