Construction employment falls in June

Employment up in several industries, led by wholesale and retail trade; construction sector down. (Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (3701), table 14-10-0355-01.)

Canadian employment increased by 60,000 positions in June, says Statistics Canada in its latest Labour Force Survey, but the construction sector did not contribute to the gains. Following two months with little change, construction employment decreased by 14,000, or just shy of one per cent, in June. Year-over-year, employment in the industry was little changed in June.

Statistics Canada says the June increase in employment was the largest since January 2023. Employment growth had moderated from February to May, averaging 20,000 per month, following strong growth from October 2022 to January 2023 where average gains were roughly 79,000 per month.

Most of the national gains were driven by full-time positions, with a gain of 110,000 workers, which was offset by a drop of 50,000 part-time positions. Employment gains in June were concentrated among young men aged 15 to 24 and men aged 25 to 54, with each of those cohorts gaining 31,000 positions. Employment among women of all age groups was little changed in June. The employment rate — the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed — edged up 0.1 percentage points to 62.2 per cent in June.

The net increase in workers coincided with an increase in the unemployment rate. That rose by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4 per cent as more people searched for work. The additional job seekers pushing the rate to its highest level since February of 2022. There were 1.1 million people unemployed in June, an increase of 54,000, or almost five per cent, on the month.

Total hours worked were virtually unchanged in June and were up two per cent on a year-over-year basis.

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