The unemployment rate in June rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.1% as more people were searching for work in Canada.

Compared to last year, employment increased by 72,000 or 0.4%. It was the lowest yearly growth rate since February 2010. Little changed in the number of hours worked in the past 12 months.

Among youths aged 15-24, employment declined by 44,000. However, their unemployment rate was not affected much and stood at 13.4% as fewer youths participated in the labour market.

In age group 25-54, employment declined by 26,000, mostly among women. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1%.

Employment increased by 60,000 among people aged 55 and over, bringing their unemployment rate down 0.4 percentage points to 5.8%.

In Ontario, employment fell by 34,000, raising the unemployment rate for the province by 0.2 percentage points to 7.5%. In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment fell by 2,900 in June. It increased by 3,800 in Manitoba and by 2,700 in New Brunswick.

From the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2014, employment in Yukon was little changed and the unemployment rate fell from 5.3% to 4.3%. During the same period, employment in the Northwest Territories declined by 1,500 and the unemployment rate increased from 7.3% to 9.6%. In Nunavut, employment was little changed and the unemployment rate was also unchanged at 13.6%.

Employment declined in business, building and other support services by 27,000 in June, but was little changed on a year-over-year basis. There were 15,000 fewer people working in agriculture in June.

The number of construction workers rose by 32,000 and by 21,000 in ‘other services,’ such as civic and social organizations and private household services.

There was minimal change in the number of private and public sector employees as well as the self-employed. All growth was seen among private sector employees.

After adjusting to the concepts used in the United States, the unemployment rate in Canada was 6.1%, the same as the rate in the US. The employment rate in Canada in June (adjusted to US concepts) was 62.0%, compared with 59.0% in the United States.

Source: Statscan