Data sheds light on employment rates from province to province, and the pandemic’s impact on working mothers
Canada's unemployment rate dropped to 5.2% in September as the economy added 21,000 jobs. Research from Statistics Canada found that the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points from last month's 5.4%, as fewer people searched for work.
"Gains in educational services and health care and social assistance were offset by losses in manufacturing; information, culture, and recreation; transportation and warehousing and public administration," read the report.
There were more employees recorded in the public sector for September, while there was "little" change among private sector numbers and self-employed workers. By province, Statistics Canada said employment increased in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, while fewer people worked in Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
Read more: Quebec businesses urge premier to prioritise labour shortage
Employment among young women also went down for the second consecutive month, while it went up for male youth. Data found that women's career choices are being increasingly impacted by childcare responsibilities, which were heightened due to school closures during the pandemic. Women with a child under 16 were twice as likely not to apply for a job or a promotion compared to their male counterparts, while 7.6% of mothers turned down job offers due to childcare responsibilities.
Mothers were also more likely to take on schooling responsibilities for their children, with 48.5% of mothers with children under 16 saying they helped their children with homework and home-schooling most of the time.
Read more: Can people with disabilities solve Ontario's labour shortage?
Wages and return-to-work schemes
Average hourly wages also increased 5.2% ($31.67) on a year-over-year basis, while remaining above five percent for a fourth consecutive month. Total hours worked went down 0.6% in September, while nearly one million people (57.5%) aged 55 to 64 reported being retired in September.
Meanwhile, as return-to-office schemes are underway, the number of employees who said they work exclusively from home fell slightly to 16.3% in September. The number of workers with hybrid arrangements, on the other hand, remained at 8.6%.
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