We knew that the growth in Canadian youth unemployment was bad, but we didn’t realize it was ‘worst among the world’s biggest economies’ bad.
Driving the news: Unemployment rates for Canadians aged 15 to 24 have grown by 3.6 percentage points over the past two years — that’s the biggest jump among the 25 top economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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As of May, unemployment for Canadian students in that age bracket sat at 20.1%, the highest level since the mid-90s (no wonder Gen X youth were so disaffected).
Why it matters: Youth unemployment threatens to have a long-term labour market impact as swaths of young people are losing out on early job experience. Without experience (the bane of every job applicant’s existence) finding long-term career prospects could be harder.
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This will eventually hurt Canada’s economy. A 2024 Deloitte study found that failure to address youth unemployment will result in an $18.5 billion hit to the GDP by 2034.
What’s next: The feds are trying to get more young folks working by expanding the Canada Summer Jobs program, but the root of the problem likely lies in broader labour market softness. In the long-term, fears remain that the youth labour issue could get worse before it gets better as the trade war saps the economy and AI comes for entry-level gigs.—QH