Unemployment Rate Climbs to 6.8% in November, Reaching Highest Level Since January 2017 Before Pandemic

Canada’s unemployment rate surged to 6.8 percent last month as more individuals sought employment in a diminishing job market.

According to Statistics Canada’s November labour force survey, the jobless rate in the previous month hit its highest level since January 2017, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October, the unemployment rate stood at 6.5 percent.

Furthermore, the economy saw an increase of 51,000 jobs in November, with most of the employment gains occurring in full-time positions.

The labour force participation rate, which indicates the percentage of working-age individuals employed or looking for work, rose by 0.3 percentage points last month.

The Bank of Canada will closely monitor Friday’s job report as it prepares for its interest rate announcement on Wednesday.

Economists widely anticipate the central bank to implement another interest rate reduction, although there is no unanimous agreement on the magnitude of the cut.

The labor market has significantly cooled off over the past year due to high interest rates.

For unemployed Canadians, this has resulted in longer stretches without employment.

According to the job report, in November, 46.3 percent of unemployed Canadians had either not worked in the past year or had never worked, a rise from 39.5 percent a year earlier.

Average hourly wages saw a 4.1 percent increase from the previous year, indicating a deceleration in annual wage growth compared to October.