Canadian Unemployment Climbs, Nearly 1 in 3 Struggle To Buy Necessities

Canadian employment was little changed last month, but the details were more concerning. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data show employment stalled in October, but unemployment climbed. It’s not just harder to find a job, but those unemployed are struggling to find work. The agency warns that nearly 1 in 3 adults now face financial hardship, rolling back gains made since 2022. Canadian Employment Stalls As Unemployment Climbs Canadian seasonally adjusted unemployment rate. Source: StatCan. Employment was virtually flat (0%; -4.7k) in October, following losses in September (-68k) and August (-42k). Despite the stall, more people searching for work pushed the unemployment rate to 6.7%, up 0.2 points. Most of the pain is concentrated in Alberta and Ontario, where the rate is now 7.3% in both provinces. October’s flat move somewhat downplays the emerging weakness in the labour force. A sharp drop in private sector employment (-53k) was only offset by a jump in the public sector (+50k). The public sector’s increase comes after four months of losses. Employment has only grown 0.1% (+17k) over the past year. That’s a little light considering population revisions show 189.4k more people y/y ...