Canada’s economy saw over 15,300 new jobs in the month of April alone, pushing the jobless rate to its lowest percent on record: 5.2%.
This month signaled the third straight month of a rising employment rate since the Covid lockdowns of years prior. The number was very short of analysts predictions, an expected 40,000 new jobs for April, however it was enough to have a massive impact on the nation’s current economic state.
In March unemployment had hit the lowest recorded rate in history, some 5.3%. However, April was able to beat that record by just .1%. Alberta and the provinces East of it had the largest effects on total nationwide employment. The largest negative factor was the province of Quebec, which reported a loss of some 27,000 jobs.
However full-time jobs across the nation fell by 32,000, but were replaced with 47,000 part-time jobs.
Indeed economist Brendon Bernard believes the low unemployment rate alongside the swiftly rising inflation is causing Canadians to look for higher-paying jobs, and thus forcing employers to raise wages.
“Things have definitely shifted towards a job-seekers market. That competition for workers means that employers need to be competitive in their hiring practices and practices to attract workers.”
His statement holds true. Back in 2018 40% of employed Canadians earned under $20 per hour. About 14% earned over $40. However, now some 26% of employed Canadians earn under $20 and 24.5% earn $40 per hour.
However, this has caused major problems for certain industries which can’t pull in enough employees anymore. RSM Canada economist Tu Nguyen pointed out this trend during a CBC interview earlier this week. “We have an overheated labor market as well as a dwindling labor pool, so for employers it is increasingly difficult to find the workers that they need to fill the job vacancies.”
“We’re getting to a point where there aren’t many available workers left that are currently unemployed looking for jobs,” she said.
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