July Sees Economy Shed 2,800 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Stays Steady at 6.4%
Students are facing a particularly challenging summer job market while recent immigrants are disproportionately affected by weakening labour market conditions in the country, according to Statistics Canada’s latest employment figures.
The federal agency’s July labour force survey released on Friday indicates that the overall jobless rate held steady at 6.4 percent last month, with 2,800 jobs lost in the economy.
Despite historically high interest rates, the unemployment rate has risen by 0.9 percentage points over the past year.
The most significantly impacted groups, according to the latest data, are young people and recent immigrants.
Among students aged 15 to 24 who are returning to school in the fall, only 51.3 percent were employed last month, showing a drastic 6.8 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year.
Statistics Canada reports that this is the lowest employment rate for returning students since July 1997, excluding July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The slowdown in the Canadian job market has also significantly affected recent immigrants, with their unemployment rate increasing by 3.1 percentage points year-over-year to 12.6 percent in July.
In contrast, the unemployment rate for Canadian-born individuals has risen by 0.5 percentage points over the past year to 5.6 percent in July.
Recent immigrant youth are facing the most severe increase in unemployment, with a jobless rate of 22.8 percent, marking an 8.6 percentage point rise from the previous year.
The Bank of Canada has expressed growing concerns about the job market conditions, with Governor Tiff Macklem stating last month that the central bank’s decision to reduce its key interest rate was partly motivated by a desire to stimulate economic growth.
A summary of the Bank of Canada’s discussions released earlier this week indicated that some members of the governing council are apprehensive about further deterioration in the labour market hindering the economic recovery process.
