Unemployment rate down in June, as more people leave work force

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - The unemployment rate slipped to 6.1 per cent in July from 6.2 per cent in June, but only because many people - especially the young - left the work force.

There were actually 55,000 fewer people working in July than in the previous month, Statistics Canada reported Friday. Most of the job losses came in part-time work and were centred in manufacturing, business building and other support services and educational services.

Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island all saw job losses.

Employment in Quebec dropped by 30,000 and the provincial jobless rate rose to 7.4 per cent. Ontario lost 19,000 jobs overall, but its unemployment rate actually dropped to 6.4 per cent from 6.7 per cent as an estimated 42,000 people left the job market.

Manufacturing jobs continued to disappear in July. Ontario lost 41,000 such jobs, although Alberta added 7,000.

In the last year, employment in manufacturing has dropped by 88,000, with almost all the losses in Ontario.

Although Ontario has lost factory jobs, employment in the province has risen since July 2007 because of gains in public administration, health care and social assistance, construction and educational services.

The only job gains across the country were in accommodation and food services, where 22,000 people were hired.

The pace of job growth has slowed sharply this year, with gains averaging only 10,000 a month compared with the average monthly gain of 30,000 reported for 2007.

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 per cent in July. Here's what happened provincially (previous month in brackets):

-Newfoundland 13.3 (13.1)

-Prince Edward Island 10.6 (10.1)

-Nova Scotia 6.7 (7.6)

-New Brunswick 8.8 (9.7)

-Quebec 7.4 (7.2)

-Ontario 6.4 (6.7)

-Manitoba 3.8 (4.1)

-Saskatchewan 4.4 (4.0)

-Alberta 3.6 (3.3)

-British Columbia 4.4 (4.5)

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 per cent in July. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities but cautions the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. (Previous month in brackets.)

-St. John's, N.L. 7.7 (7.8)

-Halifax 5.5 (5.4)

-Saint John, N.B. 6.3 (6.1)

-Saguenay, Que. 8.9 (9.4)

-Quebec 5.0 (4.9)

-Trois-Rivieres, Que. 7.9 (8.6)

-Sherbrooke, Que. 5.6 (5.6)

-Montreal 7.5 (7.6)

-Gatineau, Que. 4.8 (5.5)

-Ottawa 5.1 (5.4)

-Kingston, Ont. 6.4 (6.0)

-Toronto 7.0 (6.7)

-Hamilton 5.5 (6.0)

-Kitchener, Ont. 6.2 (5.6)

-London, Ont. 7.0 (7.4)

-Oshawa, Ont. 6.6 (7.4)

-St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 7.0 (7.3)

-Sudbury, Ont. 5.3 (5.6)

-Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.5 (6.5)

-Windsor, Ont. 9.0 (8.3)

-Winnipeg 4.2 (4.1)

-Regina 3.8 (4.1)

-Saskatoon 4.5 (3.9)

-Calgary 3.3 (3.2)

-Edmonton 3.7 (3.7)

-Abbotsford, B.C. 4.2 (4.3)

-Vancouver 4.1 (4.1)

-Victoria 3.2 (3.0)