Windsor’s unemployment rate soared to 9.1% in June, marking the highest in the country, according to the latest report from Statistics Canada.
The monthly labour force survey revealed that Windsor’s unemployment rate rose from 8.5% in May to 9.1% in June, making it the highest among Canadian cities. Calgary followed with an unemployment rate of 8.5%.
Nationwide, the Canadian economy shed 1,400 jobs in June, which caused the national unemployment rate to climb to 6.4%, the highest it has been in over two years.
Youth Unemployment Surges
The report also highlighted a significant rise in youth unemployment (ages 15 to 24), which increased by 0.9 percentage points to 13.5% in June. This marks the highest rate since September 2014, excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. On a year-over-year basis, youth unemployment was up by 2.1 percentage points.
Employment Rates Decline
Employment numbers remained virtually unchanged in June, with a slight decrease of 1,400 jobs, or 0.0%. This follows a modest increase of 27,000 jobs, or 0.1%, in May. The employment rate, which measures the proportion of people aged 15 and older who are employed, fell by 0.2 percentage points to 61.1% in June. This decline marks the eighth decrease in the past nine months. Since reaching a recent high of 62.4% in January and February 2023, the employment rate has dropped by 1.3 percentage points.
Despite the monthly fluctuations, employment was up 1.7% year-over-year in June, adding 343,000 jobs compared to the same month last year.
Source: Statistics Canada