‘Data for Business’ is an effort of the Langley Chamber, in partnership with the Canadian Chamber’s Business Data Lab, to bring our members reports, stats, and analysis on economic and business data to help inform business and investment decisions. Read our latest update below:

The Labour Force Survey for July shows a drop in employment by 41,000 jobs in Canada, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.9%.  Alberta and BC were the worst performing provinces, with declines of -17,000 jobs in Alberta and -16,000 jobs in BC.  In BC, declines were led by the construction sector (-7600), education (-4200) and health care/social services (-3200).

Overall, there has been little net employment growth since the beginning of the year, and the number of employed people in July was little changed compared with January.  Youth continue to face a tough job market --- the rate of youth employed in Canada has fallen to the lowest rate for a non-pandemic year since 1998. 

Average wages in Canada amongst employees increased 3.3% (+$1.17 to $36.16) on a year-over-year basis in July.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• July witnessed a drop in employment levels by 41,000 jobs, after a surprise 83,000 surge in June, marking 0.2 percentage point decline from the previous month. Both, employment and participation rate saw a decline by 0.2 percentage points, month-over-month (60.7% and 65.2%, respectively). Unemployment rate, however, remained unchanged at 6.9%.
• Unlike in June, where the gains were majorly in part-time employment, this time the fall in employment is entirely driven by private sector full-time positions. Full-time employment fell by 51,000, denoting a 0.3 percentage point drop from previous month. Additionally, the total number of hours worked also fell by 0.2 percentage point, which could lead to a decline in GDP.
• The loss of employment is entirely concentrated among the youth aged 15 to 24 years (-34,000, -1.2%), highlighting the challenges faced due to tight labour market conditions. Youth employment rate fell to 53.6%, the lowest since November 1998 (excluding the period during COVID-19 pandemic). Employment rate held steady for core-aged (25 to 54 year olds) and young-senior (55 to 64 year olds) workers.
• The information, culture, and recreation industry shredded the most jobs (-29,000), followed by construction (-22,000), business services (-19,000), health (-17,000) and agriculture (-11,000). On the other hand, employment surged in service industries like transportation and education (+26,000 and +22,000, respectively).
• Provincially, employment in Alberta and British Columbia were hit the hardest (-17,000 and -16,000, respectively). Unemployment rate increased by 1 percentage point for Alberta and 0.3 percentage point for British Columbia. However, employment levels increased in Saskatchewan by 4,000. But with more looking for jobs than available, unemployment rate increased by 1 percentage point to 5.5%.