Canada’s economy is still adding jobs, but nowhere near fast enough to keep up with the pace of population growth.
Driving the news: Canada’s unemployment rate in August rose to 6.6%, up from 6.4% in July, the highest jobless rate since 2017 (outside of the pandemic). Economists have pinned the surge on record-high population growth, particularly a sharp rise in temporary residents.
- Students, in particular, are struggling to find work — unemployment among that group this summer was the highest that it’s been since 2012, aside from the first summer of the pandemic.
Why it matters: With the population growing rapidly, there are no longer enough jobs to go around, particularly entry-level positions that students and young people have historically filled.
- According to a Bloomberg analysis, Canada’s economy has created just one new job for every six workers who joined the labour force in the last three months.
What’s next: With recent changes to trim the temporary foreign workers program and possible cuts to permanent resident targets, population growth should begin to fall from its recent record high mark.—LA