Employment in May was up 0.5% from April. The unemployment rate dropped from 7.2% in April to 7.1% in May. Construction employment grew by 3.3% from April while manufacturing employment decreased 0.8% from a month earlier.
In May, employment stood at 17.7 million, up 1.4% from May 2012. Full-time employment grew by 76,700 from April, while part-time employment increased by 18,200 from the previous month. Full-time employment was up by 258,800 from May 2012, while part-time decreased by 8,700 over the same period.
Employment over the past year grew in eight provinces, led by Prince Edward Island (+3.3%), Saskatchewan (+2.9%) and Alberta (+2.3). Quebec’s employment growth rate was 1.3%, while Ontario’s was 2.0%. Employment from a year earlier was down 1.3% in New Brunswick and 0.2% in British Columbia.
Total employment gains of 136,300 have occurred in Ontario since May 2012. Its unemployment rate was 7.3% in May, down from 7.7% in April. Quebec’s total employment increase since May 2012 was 50,500. Its unemployment rate in May was 7.7%, down from 7.8% in April.
Since May 2012, employment in the goods-producing sector has decreased by 1.1% and in the services-producing sector, it has grown by 2.2%.
The construction industry gained 17,100 jobs in May over April, bringing total construction employment to 1,343,300, which is an increase of 74,200 construction jobs (+5.8%) from May 2012.
Total manufacturing employment was down 14,200 from April to 1,722,200 jobs. That was a loss of 99,400 positions (-5.5%) since the same month last year.
The number of people working in retail and wholesale trade was up (1.0%) in May from April and totaled 2,712,500. That was a gain of 3.1% from May 2012.
Employment among adult women, aged 25 and over, was up 114,500 in May 2013 over May 2012 and increased by 24,700 from April. Employment among adult men was up 87,400 in May 2013 over May 2012 and grew by 15,800 from April. Employment among youths (15-24 years of age) grew by 48,200 since last May, and was up by 54,400 from April.
In May, private sector employment was 123,000 (0.8%) higher than in April, and was up 1.1% from May 2012. Self-employment was down 0.2% in May over April, but increased by 1.3% from May 2012. Public sector employment grew 0.8% from April and was up 1.1% from May 2012. Total private sector employment in May was 11,367,100; self-employment was 2,718,300; and public sector employment was 3,664,000.