The labour of Canada surprised economists again in November with a third straight month of job gains.
Toronto Today reports that, according to Statistics Canada, the economy added 54,000 new positions last month compared with economists’ expectations for a small loss.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 per cent in November, down from 6.9 per cent in October, marking a second consecutive month decline.StatCan said there were 26,000 fewer people in the labour market last month, pushing the jobless rate lower.
The economy added 181,000 jobs from September through November. Before then, labour market activity had been relatively cool since January as employers grappled with US tariff uncertainty.
Most of the employment growth came from part-time work, which StatCan said has outpaced gains in full-time employment over the past three months.
StatCan noted the rate of people working part-time involuntarily was little changed from a year ago at 17.9 per cent and remained below the pre-pandemic average of 19.3 per cent for the month.
Youth aged 15 to 24 also recorded employment gains last month after coping with a tough labour market to date in 2025. StatCan said the demographic 50,000 jobs in November, coming off a gain of 21,000 positions in October, the first month of job gains for youth since the start of the year.
The youth employment rate stood at 55.3 per cent in November, up 1.7 percentage points from the record low recorded in July.
StatCan said that, of those who were unemployed in October, 19.6 per cent secured a job in November. This job-finding rate was up slightly compared to the same months a year ago, which the agency said suggested an easier time finding work.
