Canada’s employment was virtually unchanged (+0.0%) in December, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%.
Notably, the employment rate — the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed — fell 0.2 percentage points to 61.6% in December, the fifth decline in the past six months, according to Statistics Canada.
The employment rate has trended down in 2023, as population growth generally outpaced employment gains. Employment growth slowed in the second half of 2023, averaging 23,000 per month, compared with the first six months of 2023, when it averaged 48,000 per month.
