Canada jobless rate rises to 6.6%

OTTAWA, June 10, (AFP): Canada’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.6 percent in May, despite a surge in full-time work, the government statistical agency announced Friday.

There was a net 54,500 new jobs created in the month, including 77,000 full-time jobs — beating analysts’ expectations, which were five times lower, after a near-decade low unemployment rate was posted the previous month.

But the impact was not reflected in the unemployment rate, which was pushed up by a flood of Canadians starting to look for work.

Statistics Canada said professional, scientific and technical services as well as manufacturing led the gains in employment — the latter seeing a reversal of a downward trend in 2016.

There were smaller increases in transportation and warehousing, wholesale and retail trade, as well as health care and social assistance, the government agency said.

Meanwhile, fewer people were working in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, as well as information, culture and recreation, and public administration.

The month of May saw an uptick in employment of youths and men.

The gains were spread mostly in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island provinces.