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Canada’s youth keep getting hammered in the job market
By Aiden Muscovitch, The Hub’s assistant editor
National employment declined by 41,000 jobs in July, resulting in a 0.2 percentage point decrease in the employment rate, according to recent Statistics Canada employment data. The employment rate now stands at 60.7 percent. The unemployment rate remained at 6.9 percent through July.
Several industries reported employment decreases, with information, culture, and recreation leading the decline (-29,000), followed by construction (-22,000).
The decline in employment was primarily concentrated among youth aged 15 to 24, with a drop of 34,000 jobs. This demographic continues to face challenging labour market conditions, as the youth employment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 53.6 percent in July. This marks the lowest rate since November 1998, excluding the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.
