Canada Statistics Agency said on Friday that the unemployment rate in the country increased by 6.2 percent in May after 27,000 jobs were created in the month.
The unemployment rate in the country has increased as population growth continues to outpace job creation. About 90,000 jobs had been added in April.
The agency’s labour force survey suggests that the Canadian job market continues to weaken as high interest rates weigh on consumers and businesses.
The unemployment rate has trended up over the past year, rising 1.1 percentage points since April 2023 across all major demographic groups, Statistics Canada said in a statement.
Employment rose in May in health care and social assistance (+30,000), finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (+29,000), business, building and other support services (+19,000), as well as accommodation and food services (+13,000).
It declined in construction (-30,000), transportation and warehousing (-21,000), and utilities (-5,400).
Most of the new jobs were part-time while full-time employment reduced, meanwhile, wage growth continued to accelerate up by 5.1 percent year over year, following a 4.7 percent hike in April.
This data release comes two days after the Bank of Canada opted to lower interest rates for the first time in four years, citing signs of easing inflation and the weakening economy.
Canada’s population surpassed 40 million in January, up 1.3 million from the previous year, marking the country’s highest population growth rate since 1957 largely due to immigration.