Statistics Canada informed on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 90,400 m-o-m in April (or +0.4 per cent m-o-m) after an unrevised decrease of 2,200 m-o-m in the previous month. This marked the sharpest increase since January 2023 (+109,600). Economists had expected a gain of 18,000 m-o-m. Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment rate was 6.1 per cent, unchanged from March. That represented the highest rate since January 2022 (6.5 per cent). Consensus estimates suggested an increase in unemployment to 6.2 per cent.
According to the report, full-time employment rose by 40,100 in April, while part-time jobs increased by 50,300. The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—was unchanged at 61.4 per cent, following six consecutive months of declines. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate was down 0.9 percentage points.
Over the month, the number of public sector employees rose by 25,500 (or +0.6 per cent m-o-m), while the number of private sector employees increased by 50,400 (or +0.4 per cent m-o-m). At the same time, the number of self-employed increased by 14,500 (or +0.6 per cent m-o-m).
Employment increased in April in professional, scientific and technical services (+26,000; +1.3 per cent), accommodation and food services (+24,000; +2.2 per cent), health care and social assistance (+17,000; +0.6 per cent) and natural resources (+7,700; +2.3 per cent), while it fell in utilities (-5,000; -3.1 per cent).
The average hourly wages rose 4.7 per cent y-o-y (or +CAD1.57) to CAD34.95 in April, slowing compared to March (+5.1 per cent y-o-y).