Unemployment number sits over simmering economic issues
Canada’s job market saw minimal growth in the month of February according to a monthly report released by StatCan on Friday.
Only 1,100 jobs were added across the country over February, a far cry from the 76,000 new positions added in January.
Wholesale and retail sectors saw a 1.7% increase in jobs, while finance, insurance, real estate rental and leasing also saw modest growth in positions available.
However, professional, scientific and technical services saw a -1.6% decline in jobs, along with a -2.1% drop in warehousing and transportation.
Aside from Nova Scotia, which saw a 0.8% decline in jobs, all other provinces saw a “virtually unchanged” job market according to StatCan.
With only 47,000 new Canadians aged 15 or older arriving over February, the slow job growth rate had little effect on Canada’s unemployment rate, which remained at 6.6%.
February’s major snowstorms also impacted the labour market, seeing actual hours worked decrease by 1.3%, the biggest drop since April 2022. According to StatCan, 429,000 Canadians lost hours of work due to the snowstorms which were ever-present throughout the month.
Average hourly wages did see a boost of from 3.5% in January to 3.8% in February, with the average national hourly wage now sitting at $36.14 per hour.
Shannon Terrell, financial expert at NerdWallet, suggested February’s stagnation paints a bleak picture for the months ahead, as the Canadian economy prepares to deal with the uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs.
“I’d caution Canadians not to mistake a temporary plateau for stability. Under the surface, economic turbulence has begun to roil in tandem with geopolitical tensions,” she said. “With nearly one in eleven Canadian jobs heavily exposed to U.S. trade relations, the escalating tariff spat could rattle our labour market with pandemic-scale turbulence.”
