Employment change by industry, May 2025. (Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (3701), table 14-10-0355-01.)
Canadian employment was little changed in May, with the economy adding just 8,800 workers overall, reports Statistics Canada in its most recent Labour Force Survey. Also flat was the employment rate, which held steady at 60.8 per cent. The unemployment rate was on the rise, however increasing 0.1 percentage points to seven per cent in May, the highest non-pandemic rate since September of 2016.
The uptick in May’s unemployment rate was the third consecutive monthly increase. Since February, the rate has risen almost a half per cent. Overall, there were 1.6 million unemployed people in May, an increase of 13.8 per cent from 12 months earlier.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Canada’s construction sector had 7,400 fewer workers than in April, although the May results were still almost 46,000 higher than the report from May of 2024, a gain of 2.9 per cent over that 12-month span.
