Canada's Labour Market Ends 2022 On an Upward Trend, Adding Over 100K Jobs in December

The latest Labour Force Survey provides an overview of general employment trends in December 2022, as well as industry-based employment outcomes.

Statistics Canada reports that employment in #Canada increased by 0.5 percentage points over the month (+104,000 jobs), while the national unemployment rate fell to 5.0% (-0.1% month-over-month).

General Employment Trends across Canada

A lot of immigrants to Canada come here for a better life, which often includes better-paying, more stable jobs. The Labour Force Survey for December 2022 indicates that, across Canada, there is healthy growth in the average hourly wage of employees — which has remained above 5% for seven consecutive months and is up 5.1% year-over-year.

Furthermore, the private sector is at the root of Canada's employment boom, as the number of employees in private-sector jobs increased by 112,000 in December, in addition to the rise in average hourly wages. The past month was relatively non-factors in terms of self-employment and public employment.

Several different age groups also had improved employment outcomes in Canada, as the number of 15–24 year-olds with jobs increased by 69,000 (+2.7%), while employment for those 55 and older increased by 31,000 (+32%).

Employment Trends by Industry

During the month of December, employment in the healthcare and social assistance sector fell by 17,000 jobs (a drop of 0.7%). In the same time frame, each of the following seven industries has seen employment increase.

Construction: In December 2022, the construction industry in Canada added 35,000 jobs, an increase of 2.3%.

Transportation and Warehousing: In December, employment in the transportation and warehousing sector grew by 29,000 (3.0%).

Information, Culture and Recreation: To end 2022, this industry added 25,000 jobs across Canada, a 3.1% increase.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: The number of people working in this industry increased by 23,000 (+1.3%), increasing employment by over 1% (+1.3%).

Accommodation and Food Services: There are 13,000 more people working in this industry than a month ago (+1.2%).

Public Administration: Between November and December of 2022, this sector added 11,000 jobs, an increase of 0.9%.

Other Services: This industry employs 10,000 more people than a month ago (+1.3%).

Employment Trends by Province and Territory

Employment increased in six provinces in December 2022: Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, #Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan.

As a result, Ontario's employment rose by 42,000 jobs (+0.5%) in December, up 1.4% year over year. The province's unemployment rate fell from 6.1% to 5.3% at the end of 2022, a 0.8% YOY decrease.

#Alberta added 25,000 jobs (+1.0%) in December, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8%. Employment rose by 3.9% - and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points - year over year.

Below are the results for December 2022 for the remaining four provinces:

British Columbia: In December 2022, employment increased by 17,000 jobs (0.6%), while unemployment remained relatively stable at 4.2%.

Manitoba: For the month of December, Manitoba employment increased by 1% (7,000 jobs) while unemployment remained unchanged at 4.4%.

Saskatchewan: Employment in Saskatchewan increased by 4,200 jobs (+0.7%) in December, while unemployment remained at 4.1%.

Newfoundland and Labrador: There was a nearly three per cent increase in employment in this province (+2.9%) in December 2022, but NL recorded the highest unemployment rate among all 10 provinces (10.1%).

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NOTE: To end 2022, employment levels in Canada's other four provinces remained relatively stable, but this month's Labour Force Survey indicated that #Quebec's December 2022 unemployment rate was 4%, while employment across the province rose 1.8% YOY and unemployment fell 0.7%.

Yukon's unemployment rate, which rose to 4.8% (+2.3%) in Q4 2022, was the only notable change across all three Canadian territories, which provide quarterly employment updates. Generally, employment and unemployment rates remained relatively stable across the three regions.