Unemployment climbs in New Brunswick, but not due to job losses

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New Brunswick’s unemployment level climbed to 6.9 per cent in February, up from 6.6 per cent the previous month and from 6.2 per cent a year ago.

But it’s the province’s expanding population and growing labour force that’s the cause, and not job losses, according to Statistics Canada.

New data from the country’s statistical agency shows the province gained jobs last month.

A net new 1,700 full-time jobs oustripped a loss of 1,100 part-time positions.

That said, the size of the labour force, the number of New Brunswickers with jobs or looking for work, jumped by 2,000 people.

That’s as the province’s total population climbed by roughly the same amount.

The overall result is more New Brunswickers seeking a job.

Year over year, the province’s labour force has now expanded by 12,700 people.

That’s overtaking the extra 8,800 jobs that were added over the same time frame, including 13,500 new full-time jobs that were slightly offset by 4,700 part-time job losses.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s neighbouring provinces are seeing unemployment drop.

On a year-over-year basis, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were the only two provinces in the country to record increases in their employment rates in February.

The unemployment rate in Nova Scotia decreased by an entire percentage point to 6.0 per cent, and was little changed from February 2023.

PEI also saw its unemployment rate inch downward to 7.0 per cent from 7.4 per cent a month ago.

Unemployment on the island was also seven per cent a year ago.

Nationally, Statistics Canada reports that 41,000 net new jobs were added in February, driven by gains in full-time positions, but the unemployment rate still ticked up 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 per cent as the labour pool continues to grow rapidly.

The jobless rate has held at 5.8 per cent in three of the past four months.

“This downward trend is associated with rapid population growth, which has outpaced employment growth in the past year,” Statistics Canada said in releasing the employment data.

Still, while the job gains more than doubled expectations, economists maintain that the country’s economy is slowing.

“The report is certainly impressive at first blush, particularly the towering rise in full-time jobs,” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said in note. “However, it’s staggeringly clear that the results are flattered by ongoing massive population gains, and the labour market is thus actually gradually cooling.”

The Bank of Canada, which held its benchmark interest rate at five per cent last week, will be watching the data to gauge inflation risks, but economists said these numbers aren’t likely to move the bar.

“The Canadian labour market continues to loosen, albeit at a snail’s pace that isn’t going to speed up the timeline for Bank of Canada interest rate cuts,” CIBC Capital Markets economist Andrew Grantham said in a note to investors.