Canada lost jobs for two consecutive months, with the nation seeing the loss of 74,000 jobs since May.
According to a report from Statistics Canada, Canada lost 59,000 jobs in June, with total jobs lost between May and August declining by 74,000.
Many of these job losses were amongst public sector employees, with 51,000 job losses recorded in July (the first decline in the sector in a year), while the number of self-employed workers rose by 34,000. Private sector employment numbers were little changed.
Despite the decline, the jobless rate of 4.9% has apparently remained the same, with there being fewer jobs but also fewer people looking for work.
As for which jobs have seen the greatest decline, those in the employment sector fell by 53,000 in the services-producing sector fell by 53,000 in July, with month-over-month losses in wholesale and retail trade down 27,000.
Job loss in health care and social assistance has also become increasingly pronounced, with the industry losing 22,000 jobs in a single month.
As economist Tu Nguyen explains, “The job decline in health care has not gone unnoticed, as it has been due to voluntary quits rather than layoffs.”
“The exodus of burnt-out health-care workers has led to a surge in temporary closure of emergency rooms,” Nguyen continued. “This has far and wide ramifications, [because] when people are not taken care of, it leads to workers across industries calling out sick, having to take time off to care for sick family members, or even exiting the workforce in more extreme circumstances.”
According to StatsCan, the only services-producing industry to see employment gains in July were Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, which grew by 11,000 jobs.
