The Canadian economy saw gains in employment for the fifth straight month in October with the unemployment rate inching down to 6.7 percent. There was some good news for workers in New Brunswick as that province saw gains of 3,000 new jobs in October.
Overall, the country gained 31,000 jobs last month, bringing the national unemployment rate down to within a single percentage point of the level it was at in February of 2020, before the outset of the pandemic.
These are the findings from the latest Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada this morning.
While employment increased in New Brunswick and Ontario, there were decreases in people working in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There was little change in all other provinces.
There were 72,000 more people working in retail in October, pushing employment in the industry back to its pre-COVID level for the first time since March 2021. See retail jobs on CareerBeacon.
By contrast, there were 27,000 fewer people working in accommodations and food services last month. Stats Can points out that restaurants and drinking establishments have capacity limits or proof-of-vaccination requirements in place in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador which could be holding them back from full recovery.
See jobs in the hospitality sector on CareerBeacon.
Here are the current unemployment rates across the country
(Along with jobs available right now on CareerBeacon)
Newfoundland and Labrador 13.9 percent [View jobs in NL]
Prince Edward Island 9.1 percent [Search jobs in PEI]
Nova Scotia 8.3 percent [See jobs in Nova Scotia]
New Brunswick 9.1 percent [View available jobs in New Brunswick]
Quebec 5.6 percent [See jobs in Quebec]
Ontario 7.0 percent [Job opportunities in Ontario]
Manitoba 5.3 percent [Jobs in Manitoba]
Saskatchewan 6.2 percent [Browse jobs in Saskatchewan]
Alberta 7.6 percent [Available jobs in Alberta]
British Columbia 5.6 percent [See jobs in B.C.]
Read the complete Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada for October of 2021.
