Virtually no jobs growth since January (Canadian Press imaage)

By The Canadian Press

Manufacturing jobs fall hard in April

Unemployment rate rises to 7% in May as economy adds 8,800 jobs

Jun 6, 2025 | 8:00 AM

OTTAWA Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate ticked up for the third consecutive month in May as the economy added 8,800 jobs.

The national jobless rate rose to seven per cent last month, up a tenth of a point from April.

StatCan says that marks the highest unemployment rate since 2016 outside the pandemic years.

Alberta saw it’s unemployment rate tick 3 tenths of a per cent higher to 7.4 in April.

The wholesale and retail trade sectors were the major contributors to job gains in May, but those were offset by losses in public administration.

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Manufacturing, which was hard-hit in April, shed roughly 12,000 jobs last month.

StatCan says there’s been virtually no overall employment growth since January, coming off strong job gains at the end of last year.

Rhiannon Hoyle, Alberta’s New Democrat Shadow Minister for Jobs, Economy and Trade released the following statement on the numbers:

“Alberta’s continuously rising unemployment rate shows just how terrible a job Danielle Smith and her UCP government are doing for Albertans struggling with the cost of living.

“Youth unemployment in Alberta is the highest in the country. And while full-time employment has increased across the rest of the country over the last four months, Alberta has lost 18,000 full-time jobs.

“No wonder Smith and the UCP are constantly trying to distract from their record with their dangerous and economy destroying flirtation with separatists.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.

(The Canadian Press)

(With files from rdnewsNOW)