{"id":718207,"date":"2026-06-06T03:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T03:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/718207\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T03:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T03:45:09","slug":"canada-adds-87800-jobs-in-may-far-exceeding-estimates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/718207\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada adds 87,800 jobs in May, far exceeding estimates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Canadian economy added 27,000 construction jobs in May, offsetting a loss of almost 16,000 jobs in April.Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The Canadian economy roared back in May with a strong month of job creation, appearing to shake off a stagnation that\u2019s characterized the economy this year as it faces trade and geopolitical risks.<\/p>\n

The labour market added 87,800 jobs in May, Statistics Canada said on Friday, easily outpacing analyst expectations of 10,000 positions added. The unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent from 6.9 per cent in April.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

May\u2019s increase in employment was the strongest month for job creation since December, 2024. Despite the rebound, total employment across the country has only risen by 0.7 per cent over the past year, and it\u2019s down by roughly 24,000 positions year to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this does take some of the stink off the last few months, it doesn\u2019t necessarily shift the broader narrative around Canadian labour markets,\u201d analysts at TD Securities said in a client note.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to take the jobs report in stride and keep its key rate at 2.25 per cent on Wednesday for a fifth consecutive hold. The central bank is being tugged in one direction by conflict in the Middle East, which is pushing up prices for gasoline and other goods, and domestic weakness that is sapping demand.<\/p>\n

The Canadian economy finds itself in a rough patch. Gross domestic product has dropped for two consecutive quarters, sparking debate in political circles about whether the country is falling into a recession, though economists on Bay Street say recession talk is premature.<\/p>\n

As Conservatives seize on signs of recession, economists say not so fast<\/a><\/p>\n

The country\u2019s export sector has been slammed by U.S. tariffs on key industries \u2013 including steel, aluminum and autos \u2013 which is weighing on business investment and hiring intentions. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, is up for review on July 1, but all three countries have said that trade negotiations will extend beyond that date.<\/p>\n

Of late, there have been tentative signs of an economic pick-up. The preliminary estimate for April GDP shows a big rebound in activity.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s jobs report showed that employment gains were spread across the goods and services sectors and entirely driven by full-time work, which rose by 154,000 positions. Construction set the pace with 27,000 jobs added, offsetting its previous month\u2019s loss of almost 16,000. Additional gains were seen in the information, culture and recreation sectors as well as transportation.<\/p>\n

In a note to clients, CIBC Capital Markets senior economist Andrew Grantham wrote the latest numbers \u201cshould be viewed in the context of weakness seen earlier in the year,\u201d and that it \u201cshouldn\u2019t change the current on-hold stance\u201d for the Bank of Canada.<\/p>\n

While the central bank isn\u2019t anticipated to make any changes in the near term, investors expect the BoC to hike rates by a quarter-point by the end of the year, based on pricing in the swaps market. This puts investors at odds with most economists on Bay Street, who think the domestic economic outlook is too frail because of ongoing trade uncertainty to justify higher interest rates.<\/p>\n

Decoder: A technical recession, but with rising living standards?<\/a><\/p>\n

While still elevated, the youth unemployment rate fell to 13.4 per cent in May from 14.3 per cent the previous month. Among students returning to school full-time in the fall, the unemployment rate was down to 18 per cent, compared to 20.1 per cent last May, when young people faced the slowest start to the summer job market since 2009 (excluding the pandemic).<\/p>\n

Average hourly wages among employees increased 3 per cent on a year-over-year basis, trailing behind April\u2019s 4.5 per cent growth, an indicator the Bank of Canada will be closely watching as inflation already faces upward pressure from rising oil prices.<\/p>\n

Employment in Ontario increased for the second consecutive month, while the unemployment rate fell to 7 per cent \u2013 its lowest level since September, 2024. B.C. posted 25,000 jobs, partially offsetting the cumulative loss of 39,000 over February and March.<\/p>\n

Quebec saw signs of a rebound in its labour market, posting a net gain of 13,000 jobs in May, reducing the province\u2019s total loss to almost 74,000 jobs year-to-date. Full-time employment was up by more than 50,000 positions<\/a>. The unemployment rate fell to 5.6 per cent from 6.2 per cent in April as fewer people searched for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canada story remains the same: the economy is hanging in there despite the headwinds from trade and now energy prices,\u201d said Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates at Bank of Montreal, in a client note. \u201cJust when you think Canada is crumbling amid a string of negative data points, things reverse. We\u2019ve seen this story a few times in the past year. The economy isn\u2019t booming, but it isn\u2019t falling apart, either.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The Canadian economy added 27,000 construction jobs in May, offsetting a loss of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-718207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}