Here’s How Many Jobs Canada Added in April

Published May 10, 2019 at 3:25 pm

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When the topic of job searching comes up, it is not particularly uncommon for people to feel discouraged. However, there is some good news. Employment in Canada, for the most part, has recently shown signs of improvement.

According to Statistics Canada, employment rose by 107,000 last month and the unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent.

Statistics Canada also revealed that there were notable employment gains in part-time work for youth in April. However, the employment gains were not just limited to the youth.

“Employment rose for youth aged 15 to 24, people aged 55 and older, and women in the core working ages of 25 to 54,” notes Stats Canada.

And although there was no change in the number of people who were self-employed last month, the number of employees in the private and public sectors across the country did increase.

For the most part, employment improvements were seen across the country. Employment increased in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island, however, it did decline in New Brunswick. Other provinces and territories didn’t see much change.

When it comes to specific industries, Statistics Canada notes that employment gains were seen in the wholesale and retail, construction, information, culture and recreation, public administration, and agriculture industries. However, employment decreased in the professional, scientific and technical industries.


With all that being said, let’s look at employment in the province of Ontario specifically a little bit closer.

Last month, employment rose by 47,000, this was mainly a result of gains in part-time work among people between the ages of 15 and 24. However, this may not come as a shock since it was noted that youth employment in Ontario has been increasing since the beginning of the year.

Although, this increase, as noted in a recent press release, is still encouraging.

“The positive job news this morning is encouraging,” Todd Smith, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said in a recent press release from the Ontario government. “Our government is putting Ontario back on track. We are working hard to make it the best place in the world for businesses to thrive, grow and create good jobs.”

Ontario residents may be happy to learn that the unemployment rate didn’t change much last month, it was only at 6 per cent.


Now let’s look more closely at the youth employment increase across the country.

“Among youth aged 15 to 24, overall employment rose by 47,000 in April, driven by a strong increase in part-time work (+66,000),” notes Statistics Canada. “The youth unemployment rate was 10.3 per cent.”

This is said to be the lowest, unemployment, rate since comparable data became available in 1976.

“On a year-over-year basis, youth employment was up by 89,000 (+3.6 per cent), entirely due to gains in 2019,” Stats Canada continues.

When it comes to people who are of the ages of 55 and older, employment increased by 34,000 last month which was mainly due to gains for men in this age category (+26,000). The unemployment rate in the same age category decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.3 per.

For women between the ages of 25 and 54, employment increased by 24,000 in April, however, there wasn’t much of a change for men in this age range. The unemployment rate for women in this age group was 4.8 per cent, and for men it was 5.0 per cent.


As previously mentioned, there were notable gains in many different industries across Canada last month. But just how much of a gain was there in each industry?

According to Statistics Canada, employment in the wholesale and retail industry was up by 32,000, mainly driven by increases in Quebec and Alberta. However, 12 months ago employment in this industry grew by 75,000 (+2.7 per cent) due to gains since the beginning of 2019.

Employment in the construction industry increased by 29,000, and there were 14,000 more people working in the information, culture and recreation industries entirely due to increases in Ontario.

In ‘other services’, which includes repair and maintenance, services related to civic and professional organizations, and personal and laundry services, employment rose by 14,000 (mainly in Quebec and Alberta).

Employment increased by 9,000 in the public administration industry. This was, as noted by Statistics Canada, was entirely due to more people working in this industry in Quebec.

And, last month employment in agriculture rose by 7,000.

However, as noted, employment did decrease in some industries.

“Employment decreased by 15,000 in professional, scientific and technical services, mostly in Quebec,” notes Statistics Canada. “Nationally, this was the first monthly decline since August 2018. Despite the decrease in the month, employment in this industry grew by 63,000 (+4.3 per cent) on a year-over-year basis.”

It was revealed that the increased employment that was largely seen across the country last many was largely due to more people working in the private sector (+84,000). Although, there were still employment gains in the public sector (+23,000).


Statistics Canada also revealed some shocking information about Canadian employment rates compared to the U.S.

The unemployment rate in Canada was 4.7 per cent last month while it was only 3.6 per cent in the U.S.

However, Statistics Canada notes that, “On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points in Canada and by 0.3 percentage points in the United States.”

Last month in Canada the labour force participation rate in Canada (adjusted to US concepts) was 65.8 per cent while it was only 62.8 per cent in the U.S.

“The U.S.-adjusted employment rate in Canada was 62.7 per cent in April, compared with 60.6 per cent in the United States,” notes Environment Canada.

Are you surprised by the information released by Statistics Canada today (May 10)?

For more information, click here.

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