Employment rises for 3rd consecutive month

Employment in Canada rose by 76,000 (+0.4%) in January 2025, marking the third consecutive month of job gains.  

This follows increases of 91,000 (+0.4%) in December and 44,000 (+0.2%) in November. 

Over the past three months, employment growth has been seen in both full-time work (+147,000; +0.9%) and part-time work (+64,000; +1.7%). 

"The labour market shrugged off the uncertainty swirling around the economy, kicking off 2025 with strong job growth for a second straight month,” says Brendon Bernard, senior economist at Indeed.

“Like December, the employment gains well outpaced population growth, translating into another dip in the unemployment rate back to 6.6%, after hitting 6.9% last November. The labour market has a ways to go before we start declaring it strong again, but the swing in momentum is still quite welcome, given the negative trends facing job seekers over most of 2024.” 

The employment rate, which measures the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed, increased by 0.1 percentage points to 61.1% in January, reversing a previous downward trend caused by population growth outpacing job creation from April 2023 to October 2024. 

Private and public sector employment 

Private sector employment grew by 57,000 (+0.4%) in January, following a 39,000 (+0.3%) increase in December. Over the past year, private sector jobs increased by 215,000 (+1.6%). 

Public sector employment remained largely unchanged but was up 107,000 (+2.4%) compared to January 2024 says Statistics Canada. 

Self-employment increased by 27,000 (+1.0%) in January and grew by 94,000 (+3.6%) year-over-year. 

Jobs by age group 

Employment growth in January was concentrated among core-aged workers (25-54 years old): 

• Core-aged women gained 36,000 jobs (+0.5%), marking their first increase since August. 

• Core-aged men gained 28,000 jobs (+0.4%), continuing three months of employment growth totaling 90,000 (+1.3%) since October. 

Employment rates also increased for: 

• Core-aged women: +0.3 percentage points to 80.4% 

• Core-aged men: +0.2 percentage points to 86.8% 

For youth aged 15 to 24, employment increased by 31,000 (+1.1%), says Statistics Canada, driven largely by gains among young men (+25,000; +1.8%). The youth employment rate increased 0.6 percentage points to 54.5%, the first rise since April 2024. 

Among workers 55 and older, employment trends were mixed: Men in this age group saw a decline of 20,000 jobs (-0.8%), partially offsetting a 35,000 (+1.5%) increase in December while women saw little change in employment levels. 

Unemployment rate declines  

The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.6% in January, marking the second consecutive monthly decrease from a recent peak of 6.9% in November 2024. 

Despite recent job gains, the total number of unemployed workers remained at 1.5 million, 251,000 (+20.2%) higher than a year earlier, says Statistics Canada. 

Among those unemployed in December, 65.4% remained unemployed in January, up from 61.7% in January 2024, suggesting ongoing difficulties for many job seekers despite positive employment trends. 

The drop in the overall unemployment rate was mainly due to youth aged 15 to 24, whose unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 13.6%, down from its recent 14.2% high in August and December 2024. 

For core-aged workers (25-54), the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.6%. For those 55 and older, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 4.5% for women, while remaining unchanged at 5.5% for men. 

Employment growth across industries 

There were employment gains across several industries in January, says Statistics Canada: 

• Manufacturing: +33,000 (+1.8%) in January, following a +17,000 (+0.9%) increase in December. 

• Largest gains were in Ontario (+11,000; +1.3%), Quebec (+9,700; +1.9%), and British Columbia (+8,700; +4.9%). 

• Professional, scientific, and technical services: +22,000 (+1.1%) in January, marking the second gain in three months. 

• Construction: +19,000 (+1.2%), adding to a net gain of 47,000 (+2.9%) from June to December 2024. 

• Accommodation and food services: +15,000 (+1.3%). 

• Transportation and warehousing: +13,000 (+1.2%). 

• Agriculture: +10,000 (+4.4%). 

Employment declined in "other services" (including personal and repair services) by 14,000 (-1.8%). 

Employment gains by region 

The provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick saw the biggest growth, says Statistics Canada, with little change in the other provinces in January. 

• Ontario: +39,000 (+0.5%) in January, following +32,000 in December. 

• The employment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 60.5%, marking its first rise since June 2023. 

• The unemployment rate remained at 7.6%. 

• British Columbia: +23,000 (+0.8%) in January, marking a second consecutive monthly increase. 

• The employment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 61.3%. 

• The unemployment rate held steady at 6.0%. 

• New Brunswick: +2,900 (+0.7%) in January. 

• The unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 6.4%. 

• However, labour force participation declined by 0.4 percentage points to 60.0%. 

Quebec’s employment remained largely unchanged for the second consecutive month. 

• Year-over-year employment increased by 95,000 (+2.1%), with gains mostly occurring in the second half of 2024. 

• The unemployment rate was steady at 5.4% but had increased 0.8 percentage points year-over-year. 

Wage growth slows for third consecutive month 

Average hourly wages grew 3.5% year-over-year (+$1.23 to $35.99) in January, the slowest rate of growth since April 2022. This follows 4.0% growth in December and 4.2% in November. 

Permanent employees saw wages increase 3.7% to $36.83 while temporary employees experienced slower wage growth of 2.5% to $28.65, says Statistics Canada. 

From mid-2022 through most of 2023 and 2024, wage growth had averaged around 5.0%, reflecting strong job and wage growth following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“In contrast to solid job growth, hourly wage growth continued to cool,” says Bernard.

“Year-over-year wage growth slipped for a third consecutive month to 3.5%, its slowest pace since early-2022. With the tight post-pandemic labour market behind us, and inflation back to normal, the drivers of nominal wage growth in recent years have faded.