Canada Posts First Employment Gain Since January on Strong Part-Time Work; Unemployment Rate Drops to 6.9%

08:50 AM EDT, 07/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian employment increased by 83,000, or 0.4% month-over-month, in June and the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 6.9%, said the country's statistical agency in its Labour Force Survey (LFS) on released Friday.

Job gains were better than a 900 consensus increase and an unemployment rate of 7.1% provided by Mitsubishi UFG.

June's employment rise was the first increase since January, noted Statistics Canada in a statement. Employment growth was concentrated in part-time work, up 70,000, or 1.8% month-over-month.

There were employment increases in wholesale and retail trade (+34,000; +1.1%), as well as in health care and social assistance (+17,000; +0.6%), added StatsCan. Employment declined in agriculture (-6,000; -2.6% month over month) and was little changed in other industries.

Total hours worked rose 0.5% month-over-month in June and were up 1.6% compared with 12 months earlier. Average hourly wages among employees increased 3.2% on a year-over-year basis in June, following growth of 3.4% in May (not seasonally adjusted).

The employment rate -- the proportion of the population aged 15 years and older that is employed -- increased by 0.1 percentage point to 60.9% in June. The employment rate had previously recorded a cumulative decline of 0.3 percentage point in March and April and had held steady in May.

The number of employees increased in both the private (+47,000; +0.3% month over month) and public (+23,000; +0.5%) sectors in June, while the number of self-employed workers was little changed.

The monthly LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. As a result, monthly estimates will show more variability than trends observed over longer time periods. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level.

LFS estimates at the Canada level don't include the territories. The LFS estimates are the first in a series of labor market indicators released by StatsCan, which includes indicators from programs such as the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH); Employment Insurance Statistics; and the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.

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