Canada’s employment climbs by 378,000 in September

The agency also noted that the number of Canadians who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours for reasons likely related to COVID-19 decreased by 108,000 last month. (File photo: @flysi3000/Unsplash)

Statistics Canada found in its latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) that Canada’s employment rose by 378,000 in September.

This was higher than the 246,000 jobs recorded in August, bringing employment to within 720,000 of its pre-COVID February level.

Employment for full-time work in September rose by 334,000, higher than August’s 206,000. The number of part-time workers, meanwhile, “grew at a slower pace.”

The agency also noted that the number of Canadians who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours for reasons likely related to COVID-19 decreased by 108,000 last month.

“Combined with the declines from May to August, this left COVID-related absences from work at 605,000 (+74.9%) above February levels,” it said.

The agency said employment continued to increase in the services-producing and goods-producing sectors.

In services, employment in accommodation and food services climbed by 72,000, educational services by 68,000, and information, culture and recreation by 56,000. Meanwhile, in the goods sector, job gains were “largest” in manufacturing, increasing by 68,000 jobs in September.

Except in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, employment in every province went up in September, with Ontario and Quebec having the “largest gains.”

Ontario’s employment grew by 168,000, largely in full-time work, while Quebec’s employment rose by 77,000.

Statistics Canada also saw more people working in all provinces in Western Canada in September, led by British Columbia with an employment increase of 55,000 and Alberta with 38,000.

With Canada continuing to gain jobs as it tries to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, the survey showed that the unemployment rate dropped for the fourth consecutive month, decreasing 1.2 percentage points from the 10.2 percent in August to 9.0 percent in September.

“There were 1.8 million unemployed Canadians in September, down 214,000 (-10.5%) from August and continuing the four-month downward trend from the record-high 2.6 million unemployed people in May,” the survey read.

Statistics Canada saw a decrease in the number of people who wanted to work but did not search for a job in September, but if these people were included as unemployed, the unemployment rate would probably be at 11.9 percent.

The agency also noted that Black Canadians’ unemployment rate fell to 11.7 percent, while Filipino Canadians’ unemployment dropped to 8.5 percent.

On Twitter, Carla Qualtrough, minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, said the job gain in September means that “over 2.2 million Canadians have returned to work after they lost their job or stopped working during the pandemic.”

Today, @StatCan_eng released updated job numbers, which show Canada’s labour market gaining another 378,000 jobs in September. This means that over 2.2 million Canadians have returned to work after they lost their job or stopped working during the pandemic.

— Carla Qualtrough (@CQualtro) October 9, 2020