News Workforce Statistics
Statistics Canada says economy added 30,300 jobs in February

The national statistics office says Canada’s unemployment rate nudged up a tenth of a percentage point to 5.6 per cent as the economy added 30,300 net new jobs in February.

Statistics Canada says the increase in jobs was led by Quebec, which posted its third consecutive month of job gains.

The agency’s latest labour force survey says most of the national gains were in full-time work, where there was an increase of 37,600 positions, while part-time employment declined by 7,300 compared with January.

While there were gains for young workers, employment for the core of Canadian labour force, who are aged 25 to 54, held steady for a third consecutive month in February.

Compared with a year earlier, the numbers show Canada added 245,000 jobs, an increase of 1.3 per cent, which was largely driven by gains in full-time work.

Average hourly wages increased to $28.66 from $27.54 for all workers 15 years and older compared with the same month in 2019.

By the numbers

A quick look at February employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

Unemployment rate: 5.6 per cent (5.5)

Employment rate: 61.8 per cent (61.8)

Participation rate: 65.5 per cent (65.4)

Number unemployed: 1,133,800 (1,124,400)

Number working: 19,189,400 (19,159,100)

Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 10.3 per cent (10.3)

Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.9 per cent (4.9)

Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.7 per cent (4.6)

Unemployment rate by province

Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

• Newfoundland and Labrador 12.0 per cent (11.9)
• Prince Edward Island 8.0 (7.5)
• Nova Scotia 7.8 (7.4)
• New Brunswick 6.9 (7.5)
• Quebec 4.5 (5.1)
• Ontario 5.5 (5.2)
• Manitoba 5.0 (5.1)
• Saskatchewan 6.2 (6.0)
• Alberta 7.2 (7.3)
• British Columbia 5.0 (4.5)

Unemployment rate by city

Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

• St. John’s, N.L. 8.1 per cent (7.4)
• Halifax 6.6 (6.4)
• Moncton, N.B. 5.3 (5.1)
• Saint John, N.B. 7.0 (7.4)
• Saguenay, Que. 5.9 (6.1)
• Quebec 4.1 (4.1)
• Sherbrooke, Que. 4.5 (4.6)
• Trois-Rivieres, Que. 4.7 (5.3)
• Montreal 5.5 (6.0)
• Gatineau, Que. 4.7 (4.8)
• Ottawa 4.2 (4.2)
• Kingston, Ont. 5.2 (5.7)
• Peterborough, Ont. 6.6 (7.6)
• Oshawa, Ont. 7.0 (6.7)
• Toronto 5.4 (5.5)
• Hamilton, Ont. 4.9 (4.8)
• St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 5.5 (5.2)
• Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 5.5 (5.4)
• Brantford, Ont. 4.7 (4.3)
• Guelph, Ont. 5.1 (5.0)
• London, Ont. 4.9 (5.0)
• Windsor, Ont. 8.3 (8.3)
• Barrie, Ont. 4.3 (5.0)
• Sudbury, Ont. 5.3 (5.0)
• Thunder Bay, Ont. 5.3 (5.1)
• Winnipeg 4.9 (5.2)
• Regina 6.6 (6.7)
• Saskatoon 6.5 (5.8)
• Calgary 7.4 (7.2)
• Edmonton 7.8 (8.2)
• Kelowna, B.C. 5.3 (4.2)
• Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 4.7 (5.0)
• Vancouver 4.4 (4.5)
• Victoria 3.4 (3.5)