N.B. Adds 1,100 Jobs But Unemployment Rate Jumps To 7.8 Per Cent
The province’s unemployment rate jumped from 7.2 per cent in May to 7.8 per cent in June, according to the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey.
The economy actually created 1,100 new jobs, but the labour force grew by 3,500 people, from 386,600 to 390,100, which caused the unemployment rate to rise.
The employment situation remained somewhat steady in the province’s two census metropolitan areas (CMA) – Moncton and Saint John.
The Hub City’s unemployment rate went up slightly at 6 per cent in June from 5.9 per cent in May. The Port City’s unemployment rate remained the same at 5.8 per cent.
Canada’s economy posted a slight decline in employment in June, a month that still saw the jobless rate stay near its four-decade low and wages rise to their highest level in over a year.
The unemployment rate edged up to 5.5 per cent, compared with 5.4 per cent in May.
That was its lowest mark since the government started collecting comparable data in 1976, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Overall, the report said the economy shed 2,200 net positions after adding about 24,000 full-time jobs and the loss of about 26,000 part-time jobs.
Even with the small decline, the labour market has had a strong start to the year.
The labour force survey’s measures for wages, among the indicators closely followed by the Bank of Canada ahead of its interest-rate decisions, perked up last month.
Year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees was 3.8 per cent in June, giving the indicator its strongest month since May 2018 and second-best reading in a decade. It has been climbing in recent months after hitting 2.8 per cent in May and 2.5 per cent in April.
Compared with a year earlier, employment was up 421,100 or 2.3 per cent, the report said. Of those new positions, 314,500 of them were full time.
With files from The Canadian Press