Canada's unemployment rate up to 6.4% as 1.4 million classed as jobless

Canada’s unemployment rate increased in June as the economy lost 1,400 jobs.

According to Statistics Canada, the jobless rate was 6.4 per cent in June, the worst it’s been in more than two years.

It was 6.2 per cent in May.

In British Columbia, however, the unemployment rate declined in June from 5.6 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

StatCan highlighted the following BC urban areas:

• Kelowna: Down from 4.3 per cent to 3.9 per cent

• Vancouver: Up from 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent

• Abbotsford-Mission: Down from 5.7 per cent to 5.6 per cent

• Victoria: Down from 4.7 per cent to 3.8 per cent

Across Canada, the unemployment rate in June was the highest recorded since January 2022.

StatCan said the size of the labour force grew again as the country’s population continues to surge due to immigration.

But the number of unemployed people also continues to grow, with 42,000 more of them in June compared with May.

The total number of people classed as unemployed in June was 1.4 million.

“A lower proportion of unemployed people transitioning into employment may indicate that people are facing greater difficulties finding work in the current labour market,” StatCan explained in its summary of the data it released today.

“As the unemployment rate has increased over the past year, so too has the proportion of long-term unemployed. Among the unemployed, 17.6 per cent had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more in June 2024, up 4.0 percentage points from a year earlier.”

The agency also explained that the economy lost 3,400 full-time jobs in June, offset in the data by a gain of 1,900 part-time positions.

Accommodation and food services saw more than 17,000 jobs added, while agriculture logged more than 12,000.

The transport and warehousing sector, however, recorded a decline of 11,700 jobs. Public administration also lost just under 9,000.