Canada Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate in Canada rose to 7.0% in May of 2025, accelerating from 6.9% in the previous month, and hitting its highest level in nearly four years since September 2021. This exceeded market expectations of 6.9%. The rise can be attributed to a significant increase in the number of jobless individuals, which reached 1,600,000, a spike of 51,900. This signals that businesses may be starting to feel the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States. Despite this, net employment saw a modest increase of 8,800, slightly surpassing the expected 5,000. This helped to offset most of the 32,600 job losses from the previous month. The manufacturing sector was hit hardest, experiencing a net decline of 12,200 jobs due to high tariffs on aluminum, steel, and auto industries. Meanwhile, the labor force remained steady at 65.3%.