In April, Canada’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.1 percent, with the employment rate holding steady at 61.4 percent, marking a pause after six consecutive monthly declines, according to Statistics Canada. However, the agency noted that on a year-over-year basis, unemployment rates increased among the largest racialized groups in the country.
Core-aged Black Canadians saw a significant rise in the unemployment rate, increasing by 4.4 percentage points to 11.2 percent. Similarly, core-aged South Asians experienced a 2.1 percentage point increase to 6.8 percent, while core-aged Chinese Canadians saw a 1.3 percentage point rise to 7.5 percent. In contrast, the unemployment rate among non-racialized core-aged individuals increased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.2 percent over the same period.
When adjusted to U.S. concepts, Canada’s unemployment rate in April was 5.1 percent, which was 1.2 percentage points higher than that of the United States. The employment rate, also adjusted to U.S. concepts, was 62 percent in Canada and 60.2 percent in the United States for the same period.
Historically, Canada has maintained a higher employment rate compared to the United States, but the gap has narrowed in recent times. Over the past year, from April 2023 to April 2024, the employment rate, adjusted to U.S. concepts, declined by 0.8 percentage points in Canada, while remaining relatively stable in the United States, according to Statistics Canada.