Job market stabilizes in February
March 18, 2025
Canada’s job market showed little movement in February, with employment figures holding steady after three consecutive months of gains, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.
The country added just 1,100 jobs (+0.0%) during the month, bringing total employment growth over the past year to 387,000 (+1.9%).
“The labour market’s mini hot-streak cooled in February, though it’s unlikely the pause in job growth was directly linked to the trade war’s shockwaves,” said Indeed senior economist Brendon Bernard.
“Employment in the highly-exposed manufacturing industry ticked down slightly, in-line with other sectors, while overall layoffs remained low, helping to keep the unemployment rate steady at 6.6%. For now, we’re still in the world of typical LFS monthly volatility. We’ll have to wait another month to see if the new era facing the Canadian economy is becoming evident in the job numbers.”
Labour force participation
The unemployment rate remained at 6.6% in February, following declines in December and January. However, notable shifts emerged among demographic groups. The unemployment rate for core-aged women (25-54) declined by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4%, while for core-aged men, it increased by 0.3 percentage points to 5.9% due to a rise in job seekers.
For youth aged 15-24, the unemployment rate fell to 12.9% in February—a 0.7 percentage point drop—continuing a downward trend from January. Youth job seekers decreased by 41,000 (-9.3%) over the past two months, while youth employment rose by 22,000 (+0.8%), says Statistics Canada.
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