This must always be considered when we look at the jobs report.
The Liberal government will no doubt be grasping onto the May jobs report as a political lifeline.
They’ve been desperate for some good news, and – on the surface of it – they got some.
Canada added 90,000 jobs last month, a headline number that appears impressive.
However, the unemployment rate stayed at 6.1%, and is up a full percentage point in the past year.
So, why didn’t the big headline number drive unemployment lower?
Because insane immigration increases are outpacing job growth.
As noted by Bloomberg, Canada added 112,000 working-age people last month, more than the 90,000 jobs created:
“But against the backdrop of rapid immigration-fueled population growth, job creation during the month fell short of 112,000 new working-age entrants — that’s been a persistent trend over the past year.”
Wage growth is also declining:
“Compensation is also rising at the weakest pace in 10 months. Wage growth for permanent employees decelerated to 4.8%, down from 5% a month earlier.”
And so, if you see or hear the Liberals trying to promote the jobs numbers as a big win, we have to remind ourselves that the numbers are only ‘impressive’ because the raw number of people coming into the country is so large.
On a per-person basis, things are getting worse in Canada, and this jobs report does nothing to change that.
Spencer Fernando
