Canada: Unemployment Rate rises to 8.2% in May, Net Change in Employment falls 68K

• Unemployment Rate in Canada rose to 8.2% in May as expected.
• USD/CAD stays little changed around 1.2100 after the data.

The Unemployment Rate in Canada edged higher to 8.2% in May from 8.1% in April with the Net Change in Employment falling by 68,000, compared to market expectation of -20,000, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Friday.

Additional takeaways from the press release

"Employment fell by 68,000 (-0.4%) in May. Almost all of the decline was in part-time work (-54,000; -1.6%)."

"The number of self-employed workers was virtually unchanged in May but remained 5.0% (-144,000) below its pre-pandemic level."

"Among people working part-time in May, almost one-quarter (22.7%) wanted a full-time job, up from 18.5% in February 2020 (not seasonally adjusted)."

"After falling in April, total hours worked were little changed in May."

Market reaction

With the initial market reaction, the USD/CAD pair dropped to a daily low of 1.2087 before staging a rebound. As of writing, the pair was virtually unchanged on a daily basis at 1.2104.