In February, Canada nears record-low unemployment rate

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In February, Canada nears record-low unemployment rate

The statistics Canada reported a drop in unemployment to 5.5% last month, which is lower than what was recorded in February 2020.

In three provinces, the costs of Omicron therapies were lowered once a full diagnostic report was completed. These provincial-based measures led to better public health outcomes, as Canada’s labour force saw a full recovery in February.

Canada was easing public health measures and increased capacity limits in several provinces. This is after they were tightened in December and January.

Unemployment has declined below pre-COVID-19 levels for the first time, down to 5.5%. Unemployment before COVID-19 was at 5.7% in February 2020; unemployment reached a historic high of 5.4% in May 2019.

The total foreign born unemployment rate was 7.1% in February, down from 7.8% the same time last year.
Where there were losses in January, Canada added 337,000 jobs in February. Gains were noticed in accommodation and food services as well as information and culture industries. It was found that the gains were widespread across provinces and demographic groups.

Jim Mitchell wrote in an email to CIC News that the labour market, after being disrupted by the pandemic, recovered more quickly than expected. Employers across the country are looking to retain talent but the rate of layoffs is returning to pre-COVID levels.

The employment rate has recovered as a percent of population to its pre-pandemic levels. Though Canada’s percentage of population employed exceeded the pre-crisis levels in September 2021, recovery by the percentage of people employed has been slower.

A few years after the pandemic, RBC found that labour markets were still very tight due to a lack of available workers. The gender pay gap didn’t seem to change and wages increased by 3.1%.

With the economic growth in Canada, there has been an increase in wages as well. The inflation rate has risen to 5.1%. It will take future statistics from Statistics Canada to see if wages will grow at the same rate.

In February, Canada announced that they would be increasing the number of permanent residents over the next three years.

The increased targets for immigrants by the government are due to a need for labour within the Canadian economy. During the pandemic, job vacancies rose. To counteract this issue, the government has relied heavily on converting temporary workers to permanent residents.