Canadian Unemployment Adds 42k Workers, 1 In 5 “Long-Term” Unemployed – Better Dwelling

The Canadian job market isn’t exactly weakening. It’s just failing to keep up with the country’s breakneck population growth, according to June employment data from Statistics Canada (Stat Can). Jobs were largely unchanged, but the population of unemployed workers has exploded dramatically. Canada’s unemployment rate is now the highest in years, and even more alarming—nearly a fifth of the country’s 1.4 million seeking employment are now considered “long-term” unemployed. 

Canada Didn’t Lose Jobs, But It Added 42k Unemployed Workers

Canadian employment was virtually unchanged last month at 20.5 million people. While the country did not see any significant gains or losses to jobs, it wasn’t enough to deal with the near-record population growth. Consequently, the unemployment rate climbed 0.2 points to 6.4% of workers in June. Unemployment is now a point higher than last year, and the highest rate since January 2022.  

Canadian Unemployment Rate Now Higher Than Pre-2020

Source: Statistics Canada.

A rising unemployment rate is already less-than-ideal, but the details are even worse. The unemployed population climbed by 42k people last month, hitting a whopping 1.4 million people. Workers without jobs has reached the same growth rate as the population, but the direction will compound the issue. The growth rate for the unemployed population is accelerating while the general population is slowing down. Without a major shift in the next few weeks, unemployment will soon outpace population growth. 

A Fifth Of Canada’s 1.4 Million Unemployed Are Now “Long Term”

Finding a job once unemployed is also becoming much more difficult for Canadians. Nearly 1 in 5 (17.6%) of the 1.4 million unemployed people are now considered long-term unemployed, failing to find work for more than 27-weeks. About 22% of older unemployed workers (aged 55+) were in this category, the highest share of any demographic. 

Canada’s Young Adults Face The Worst Job Market Since 2014 

Canada’s young adults are carrying the lion’s share of the rising unemployment. Stat Can finally made mention of the youth unemployment rate, which climbed to 13.5% in June. Outside of pandemic, young adults are facing the worst jobs market since 2014. 

As recently mentioned, young adults and recent immigrants tend to compete for similar roles—early career gigs to build up work experience. As a result of competition, both groups are now racing to the bottom and experiencing higher-than-average joblessness. The country has yet to address the issue, but it has promised to throttle its aggressive immigration plan in the future. 

Not a direct move to address unemployment, but it may lower competition. That is, if policymakers actually execute the promised slowdown. Applications currently indicate there’s been little to no action in this area.

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