A new StatCan report regarding May’s Employment Numbers indicates that employment in Canada decreased by 42,000 in May and unemployment rose to 8.4% - Canada’s highest rate for 11 years. The job losses were concentrated in Ontario, where unemployment reached 9.4% - its highest value in 15 years. In fact, Ontario lost 60,000 jobs in May, bringing total losses since last October to 234,000 or 3.5%. While Ontario accounts for 39% of the total working-age population, it has experienced 64% of overall employment losses since the start of the labour market downturn. The remaining provinces saw little changes in May, and Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan even experienced increases in employment.
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