Labour force bounces back in June
Slowly but surely, the labour force is recovering from COVID-19.
At the depths of the pandemic, between February and April, more than 5.5 million Canadian workers either were out of work or had seen increased absences from work. During the week of June 14 to 20, which was when Statistics Canada conducted its monthly labour force survey, the number of workers affected by COVID-19 shutdowns reached 3.1 million—or a reduction of 43 percent from April’s labour force figure.
Employment rose by 953,000 nationally in June, or 5.8 percent. Gains were split between full-time work (+488,000 or +3.5 percent) and part-time work (+465,000 or +17.9 percent). Employment at the end of the June study period was 1.8 million (or 9.2 percent) lower than it was pre-pandemic, while the number of workers who reported absences from their work was about 1.4 million above pre-COVID levels.
Statistics Canada says that the swings in employment have been sharper than any other recorded in the country’s history. In two months, the country shed 15.7 percent of its total employment. By comparison, the next-worst jobs crisis in Canada’s history was during the 1981–82 recession, where employment dropped by 5.4 percent over 17 months.
The national unemployment rate fell to 12.3 percent in June. That represented a drop of 1.4 percentage points from May’s record high of 13.7 percent. Statistics Canada reports that although the drop was the largest monthly decline ever recorded, the unemployment rate remains well above February’s figure of 5.6 percent.
One of the reasons labour force statistics are trending in the right direction is that all provinces had significantly eased their COVID-19 restrictions by the June reference week. By contrast, Statistics Canada’s reference week in May came before Ontario had eased its restrictions.
As a result, all provinces recorded increases in employment and decreases in COVID-related absences In June. Ontario led the way with a jump in employment of 378,000—or 5.9 percent. It was the province’s first increase since the pandemic began. The proportion of employed people who worked less than half of their usual hours declined by 6.5 percentage points to 14.1 percent, while the province’s unemployment rate declined 1.4 percentage points to 12.2 percent as the number of people on temporary layoff declined.
Construction continues to show strong signs of recovery. June’s survey shows the industry added 83,200 workers compared to a month previous, and more than 157,000 since April. The industry is now operating at 89 percent of its level in February.
The proportion of people in the industry who were working less than half of their usual work hours, and those on temporary layoff, dropped “markedly” in June, says Statistics Canada. Construction recorded a 53.8 percent decrease in the number of people on temporary layoff (not adjusted for seasonality).