Canada's unemployment rate rises to 5.2% in May, 1st time in 9 months

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in May, marking a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous month.

This is the first uptick in nine months, as reported by the country's statistical body on Friday.

The country's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5% for five consecutive months, before recording in May the first increase since August 2022.

The unemployment figure came higher than the market expectation of 5.1%.

Overall employment was almost unchanged in May, with a decline of just 17,000, or 0.1%, Statistics Canada said in a statement.

That figure also came against the market estimates of a 23,000 increase, after the North American economy added 41,000 jobs in April.

"Employment growth has moderated in recent months and monthly increases averaged 33,000 from February to April. This followed strong employment gains totaling 326,000 from September 2022 to January 2023," it added.

The participation rate, which is the proportion of the population that is employed, was down 0.1 percentage point to 65.5% in May.

Average hourly wages, annually, increased by 5.1% in May.