EDITORIAL: Jobless numbers spell trouble

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The need to grow the Canadian economy in the face of tough economic times was underscored by the release of the latest unemployment numbers by Statistics Canada on Friday.

The unemployment rate in May rose to 7.0%.

That’s the highest it has been since September 2016, excluding the 2020 and 2021 pandemic years, and a 12.9% increase from 6.2% a year ago in May.

The Canadian economy generated a net increase of just 8,800 jobs in May, far short of the roughly 30,000 per month needed to keep pace with population growth.

A total of 1.6 million Canadians were unemployed in May, an increase of 191,000, or 13.8%, compared to May 2024.

A smaller share of people who were unemployed in April found jobs in May (22.6%), compared to a year ago (24.0%), and spent an average of 21.8 weeks searching for work, compared to 18.4 weeks in May 2024.

Unemployment in Ontario (7.9%); Alberta (7.4%); Newfoundland and Labrador (9.7%); Prince Edward Island (8.2%); and Nunavut (9.0%) were all above the national average, as was the case in a number of cities, including Windsor (10.8%); Oshawa (9.1%); Toronto (8.8%); Calgary (7.8%); and Edmonton (7.3%).

Canada recorded its largest merchandise trade deficit of $7.1 billion in April, the first full month of the tariff war with U.S. President Donald Trump, compared to $2.3 billion in March.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development last week projected meagre 1% economic growth for Canada this year and 1.1% in 2026, noting Trump’s global tariff war is expected to hit the economies of Canada, Mexico, China and the U.S. hardest.

Prime Minister Mark Carney proposed measures to bolster the economy on Friday, including eliminating federal barriers to interprovincial trade, increasing labour mobility and shortening the process for approving major infrastructure projects.

Those are worthy long-term goals, since internal impediments to trade cost our economy $200 billion annually, raise consumer prices up to 14.5% and reduce economic growth as measured by gross domestic product up to 8% annually.

But they are also long-term solutions, underscoring the importance of Carney’s government producing a budget as soon as possible to reveal the Liberals’ specific plans to boost the economy.

For better or worse, Carney decided to delay releasing the budget until fall.