Employment fell by 40,000 in August, according to data from Statistics Canada’s most recent Labor Force Survey.
This decline in employment mainly concerns young women aged 15 to 24 and people aged 55 to 64. It has been observed in British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
The most affected sectors are educational services, which suffered a decline of 3.3%, as well as construction and the public sector. However, public sector employment has increased overall since the start of the pandemic, from 20.3% in February 2020 to 21.7% in August 2022.
The only province to have posted an increase in employment in August, Quebec still saw its unemployment rate increase.
Increase in the unemployment rate
Quebec’s unemployment rate therefore rose in August, despite the increase in employment mentioned above. It stood at 2.8% and remained one of the lowest among all territories in the country.
According to Statistics Canada, this is the first increase that does not come from a tightening of public health restrictions since May 2020, when the unemployment rate peaked amid the pandemic.
The adjusted unemployment rate – which includes people who were out of the labor force but wanted to work – rose 0.5 percentage points to 7.3% in August, due to the rise in the number of unemployed and unemployed.
Increase in “other services”
The number of people working in “other services” increased by 15,000 in August after being little changed for four months. This sector includes civic groups, religious organizations, and repair and maintenance services.
The number of people working in professional, scientific and technical services also increased by 14,000, following a steady upward trend since August 2020.
Employment has also increased in agriculture and in public services.