Unemployment rate: back to pre-pandemic level

Quebec’s unemployment rate was 4.5% in November, the same as it was in February 2020 before the pandemic.

Employment in Quebec grew by 46,000 (+1.1%) in November, while the unemployment rate fell 1.1 percentage points to 4.5%, the same rate observed in February 2020 before the pandemic, but also the lowest among all Canadian provinces.

This was reported by Statistics Canada on Friday, highlighting an increase in employment of 154,000 (+0.8%) in November across the country, as well as an unemployment rate that fell at 6%.

In Quebec, there were 45,500 more jobs in November compared to the previous month, due to an increase of 51,700 part-time jobs and a decrease of 6,300 full-time jobs.

«[Cette hausse] In Quebec in November it makes it possible to join and even exceed the number of jobs created before the pandemic arrived. The manufacturing sector benefited more than (17,800). “Over the past six months, the average monthly increase in employment has been 24,200,” said Joel Noro, chief economist at Desjardins.

In November, the Montreal Capital Markets Authority recorded the first significant increase in employment (+56000, +2.5%) since June 2021. In addition, the unemployment rate fell from 6.4% in October to 4.8% in November, which is the 4.9% rate marked in February 2020.

At 6%, the country’s unemployment rate is 0.3 percentage points higher than it was in February 2020.

Employment in the services and goods sectors increased in November. Statistics Canada showed that full-time (+80,000, +0.5%) and part-time (+74,000, +2.1%) employment increased, and employment growth spread across six provinces.