Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in more than 40 years as Canada closed out a year that saw it produce jobs at a pace not seen since 2002!
The rate dropped to 5.7 per cent in December, down from 5.9 per cent the month before. In Niagara, the unemployment rate was recorded at 6.8. (see more below)
In December of last year, the unemployment rate was 6.9 per cent, the report said. The last time the jobless rate was 5.8 per cent was October 2007.
The unemployment reading fell last month as the economy generated 78,600 net new positions, including 23,700 full-time jobs.
By region, Quebec and Alberta saw the biggest increases last month with each province adding more than 26,000 new jobs. Quebec’s unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 4.9 per cent, while Alberta’s dropped 0.4 percentage points to 6.9 per cent.
The December reading marked the 13th-straight month of job gains, however, about half of those positive numbers were within the survey’s margin of error.
For 2017, the agency’s labour force survey said employment rose 2.3 per cent for its fastest growth rate in 15 years. The economy added 422,500 jobs last year with the gains driven by 394,200 new full-time positions.
By industry, factories saw employment increase 3.5 per cent in 2017, while the services sector experienced a boost of two per cent.
The survey also found that over the last year the number of employed people aged 55 and over rose 5.3 per cent. This exceeded the 2.9 per cent rate of population growth for the age group.
Among workers between the ages of 25 and 54, employment increased 1.6 per cent last year.
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland and Labrador 14.7 per cent (14.4)
- Prince Edward Island 9.8 (8.8)
- Nova Scotia 8.0 (8.8)
- New Brunswick 7.8 (8.3)
- Quebec 4.9 (5.4)
- Ontario 5.5 (5.5)
- Manitoba 5.7 (5.4)
- Saskatchewan 6.4 (6.0)
- Alberta 6.9 (7.3)
- British Columbia 4.6 (4.8)
Here are the jobless rates last month by city (previous month in brackets):
- St. John’s, N.L. 8.2 per cent (8.5)
- Halifax 6.9 (7.2)
- Moncton, N.B. 5.7 (6.3)
- Saint John, N.B. 6.1 (6.8)
- Saguenay, Que. 6.0 (6.0)
- Quebec 3.9 (4.4)
- Sherbrooke, Que. 5.9 (5.7)
- Trois-Rivieres, Que. 4.5 (5.0)
- Montreal 6.1 (6.6)
- Gatineau, Que. 5.0 (5.4)
- Ottawa 5.7 (5.9)
- Kingston, Ont. 5.6 (5.8)
- Peterborough, Ont. 4.9 (5.4)
- Oshawa, Ont. 5.5 (5.4)
- Toronto 6.0 (5.9)
- Hamilton, Ont. 4.6 (4.2)
- St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 6.8 (7.1)
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 4.9 (5.0)
- Brantford, Ont. 4.7 (4.8)
- Guelph, Ont. 6.1 (6.7)
- London, Ont. 6.2 (6.3)
- Windsor, Ont. 6.1 (6.3)
- Barrie, Ont. 3.3 (3.4)
- Sudbury, Ont. 6.7 (6.2)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.3 (6.1)
- Winnipeg 5.6 (5.7)
- Regina 4.7 (4.8)
- Saskatoon 7.6 (7.6)
- Calgary 7.5 (7.8)
- Edmonton 7.5 (7.8)
- Kelowna, B.C. 6.3 (6.1)
- Abbotsford, B.C. 4.7 (4.9)
- Vancouver 4.1 (4.2)
- Victoria 3.4 (3.3)
ABOUT STATISTICS CANADA
Statistics Canada produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
In addition to conducting a Census every five years, there are about 350 active surveys on virtually all aspects of Canadian life.
In Canada, providing statistics is a federal responsibility. As Canada’s central statistical office, Statistics Canada is legislated to serve this function for the whole of Canada and each of the provinces and territories.
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