Canada Adds 24,100 Payroll Jobs in May as Wage Growth Cools to 3.4%
Updated
Updated · HRD America · Jul 31
Canada Adds 24,100 Payroll Jobs in May as Wage Growth Cools to 3.4%
3 articles · Updated · HRD America · Jul 31
Summary
Payroll employment rose 24,100 in May, slowing from April’s 59,000 gain as Statistics Canada pointed to a labor market that is stabilizing rather than tightening.
Average weekly earnings reached C$1,337.77, up 3.4% from a year earlier after a 3.7% increase in April, while average weekly hours held at 33.4.
Public administration led hiring with 11,700 jobs—helped by census staffing—followed by health care and social assistance at 6,800 and retail trade at 5,600; finance and insurance lost 5,700 and professional services shed 3,400.
Job vacancies were little changed at 495,700 for a fifth straight month, keeping the vacancy rate at 2.8%; Ontario was the only province with a significant increase, up 9,300.
Health-care vacancies fell 11,500 to 87,500—the lowest since March 2020—even as RBC said broader data still fit its view that Canada’s economy is improving gradually and unemployment should edge lower in the second half.