Employment rate fell slightly in July, says StatCan

Canada’s employment rate fell by 0.2 per cent in July, says Statistics Canada.

The decline was mostly among young people aged 15 – 24. Employment rates among core-aged (25 to 54 years old) Canadians remained stable in July.

The decrease partly offset a small increase in job numbers in June. Overall, StatCan says there has been little net employment growth since the beginning of the year.

The unemployment rate held steady at 6.9 per cent, as the number of people searching for work or in temporary layoff varied little from the previous month.

People experiencing unemployment continue to face difficulties finding work. Of the 1.6 million people who were unemployed in July, 23.8 per cent were in long-term unemployment, meaning they had been searching for work for 27 weeks or more.

This is the highest rate of long-term unemployment since February 1998.

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