Canada’s unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 per cent in June, Statistics Canada reported Friday.The agency attributed that to fewer Canadians looking for work as the participation rate slipped 0.4 per cent in the month.Meanwhile, the economy shed a net 43,200 jobs last month. Even so, experts say the record-low unemployment rate points to a tight labour market for the Canadian economy. Here’s what some of the country’s leading economists and strategists had to say about the numbers.
The main takeaway here is that Canada has the tightest job market in generations, and now wages are starting to move with purpose. Inflation has now landed with a thud in the job market, simply reinforcing the loud message for the Bank of Canada. We fully expect at least a 75 bp hike at next week's meeting.The drop in employment was the first decline since January, and the first outside of a significant pandemic lockdown since November 2019.
iva_poshnjari Clearly many people are no longer in the system. Either they stopped working or are no longer listed as unemployed. Something strange about the numbers when you consider that so many sectors are lacking workers all at once. Where did all those former workers go?