Labour Force Survey December 2024: Some good news but economic slack continues.

“December brought some good news for Canada’s job market. The unemployment rate dipped to 6.7%, with 91,000 new jobs added, above the expected 25,000. It’s also the first time in two years that the employment rate has gone up, as population growth slows down.

That said, youth unemployment remains high at 14.4%, further underscoring the challenges young Canadians face in finding opportunities. On the bright side, job growth spanned five provinces and a mix of industries. Seeing this kind of diverse growth will be important for resilience in the face of ongoing tariff threats.” 

KEY TAKEWAYS

• Canadian employment increased by 91K (+0.4%) in December, and mostly in full-time work, above market expectations of 25K. This was driven by increases for core-aged men 25 to 54 years old (+30K; +0.4%), men aged 55 and older (+41K; +1.7%) and women aged 55 and older (+21K; +1.1%).
• The unemployment rate ticked down to 6.7% from November’s 6.8%. However, youth unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 14.4% in December highlighting the ongoing challenges from subdued job vacancies for Canadian youth.
• Labour force participation stayed flat at 65.1% in December.
• Total hours worked rose 0.5% on the month and were up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.
• Average hourly wages rose 3.8% on a year-over-year basis compared with 4.1% in November as wage growth eases.
• Public sector employment rose by 40K (+0.9%), while private sector employment was little changed in December.
• Employment gains were spread over a number of industries: educational services (+17K; +1.1%), health care and social assistance (+16K; +0.5%), transportation and warehousing (+17K; +1.6%), finance, insurance, real estate (+16K; +1.1%).
• Regionally, provincial employment increased in five provinces: Alberta (+35K; +1.4%), Ontario (+23K; +0.3%), British Columbia (+14K; +0.5%), Nova Scotia (+7.4K; +1.4%) and Saskatchewan (+4K; +0.7%). Manitoba saw declines (-7.2K; -1.0%) with employment in other provinces little changed.

SUMMARY TABLES

CHARTS