Employment was little changed in March (-2,200; -0.0%) and the employment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 61.4%, reported Statistics Canada on Friday.
The federal agency said the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1% in March. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate was up by 1.0 percentage points.
Edmond Dantès
“In March, employment declined among youth aged 15 to 24 (-28,000; -1.0%), while it rose among core-aged men (aged 25 to 54) (+20,000; +0.3%). Employment was little changed among core-aged women, as well as among women and men aged 55 and older,” it said.
“There were fewer people employed in accommodation and food services (-27,000; -2.4%), wholesale and retail trade (-23,000; -0.8%) and professional, scientific and technical services (-20,000; -1.0%) in March. Employment increased in four industries, led by health care and social assistance (+40,000; +1.5%).
“Employment decreased in Quebec (-18,000; -0.4%), Saskatchewan (-6,000; -1.0%) and Manitoba (-4,300; -0.6%) in March, while it increased in Ontario (+26,000; +0.3%).
“Total hours worked in March were virtually unchanged in the month but were up 0.7% compared with 12 months earlier. Average hourly wages among employees rose 5.1% (+$1.69 to $34.81) on a year-over-year basis in March, following growth of 5.0% in February (not seasonally adjusted).”
StatsCan said the employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—declined by 0.1 percentage points to 61.4% in March, the sixth consecutive monthly decrease.
“From March 2023 to March 2024, the employment rate has decreased by 0.9 percentage points, as employment growth (+324,000; +1.6%) has been outpaced by growth in the population aged 15 and older in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (+1.0 million; +3.2%). On March 27, 2024, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s population had increased at an annual rate of 3.2% as of January 1, 2024, the fastest annual growth rate since 1957,” it said.
“Private sector employment was little changed for a fourth consecutive month in March and has held steady for eight of the nine months since June 2023. Public sector employment was also little changed in March 2024. From March 2023 to March 2024, employment has grown at a faster rate in the public sector (+4.8%; +202,000) than in the private sector (+1.1%; +141,000).
“Self-employment fell by 29,000 (-1.1%) in March, partly offsetting an increase of 38,000 (+1.5%) in February. On a year-over-year basis, self-employment was little changed in March.”
It said the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1% in March, bringing the cumulative increase over the past 12 months to 1.0 percentage points.
The monthly increase in the unemployment rate in March was driven by an increase of 60,000 (+4.8%) people searching for work or on temporary layoff. This brought the total number of unemployed people to 1.3 million, an increase of 247,000 (+23.0%) compared with 12 months earlier, added the federal agency.
“The majority (64.9%) of people who were unemployed in February 2024 remained unemployed in March 2024. This was higher than the corresponding proportion for February and March 2023 (60.5%), indicating that unemployed persons may have faced greater difficulties finding work compared with a year earlier,” it said.
“The labour force participation rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who were employed or looking for work—stood at 65.3% for the third consecutive month in March 2024. On a year-over-year basis, the participation rate was down by 0.4 percentage points, largely reflecting year-over-year declines in the participation rates of youth aged 15 to 24 (-2.6 percentage points to 63.0%) and people aged 55 and older (-0.4 percentage points to 36.5%). Among youth, the participation rate fell at a faster rate among students (-2.7 percentage points to 45.0%) than non-students (-0.9 percentage points to 86.6%) over the period (not seasonally adjusted).”
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024.
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