Canada's unemployment rates reached 7.1 percent in November as the economy lost almost 36,000 jobs in the last month, according to a report released by Statistics Canada on Friday. Unemployment rates rose by 0.1 percent this month, causing the Canadian unemployment rate to rise to 7.1 percent.
The slight decrease in jobs is not as devastating as it might seem, as employment levels have actually increased overall in the last 12 months. "Compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased by 124,000 or 0.7%, with all the growth in full-time work," StatsCan reported. While the economy lost around 72,000 part-time jobs in November, around 36,000 full-time jobs were created, which helped to off-set the loss of part-time positions. In addition, the report shows that the number of hours people worked increased by 1.1 percent.
Regardless, the number of jobs lost is about four times larger than what economists expected, according to CBC. However, around 32,500 of the jobs lost corresponded to the number of jobs created last month due to the Canadian elections.
"The decrease was concentrated among survey interviewers and statistical clerks, an occupational group that corresponds with the type of work done during the election," StatsCan reported. "Similar movements in this occupation group were observed during previous federal elections and censuses."
The province hit the hardest was Alberta, where unemployment rose by 0.4 percentage points to 7.0 percent, causing the highest unemployment rate in the province since 2010, the StatsCan report noted. Employment also fell in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, whereas the changes in employment in the other provinces were nominal.
However, during this same time period, unemployment among youths aged 15 to 24 hit the lowest levels in seven years, with unemployment rates dropping to 12.7 percent from 13.3 percent in October, according to the Canadian Press. This is due, in part, to the fewer number of youths participating in the labor market.
