The unemployment rate stood at 5% in December in Canada, down 0.1 of a percentage point from the previous month.
Statistics Canada reports that employment rose by 104,000, or 0.5%, last month across the country. Employment in December was up 0.7% from its level last May, when it peaked.
Employment growth in December was mainly attributable to full-time work, which increased for a third consecutive month.
Employment among young people aged 15 to 24 rose 2.7% in December; among people aged 55 and over, it increased by 0.7 percentage points, mainly in the 55-64 age group.
In Quebec, the unemployment rate was measured last month at 4%, up 0.2 of a percentage point in one month. Employment remained stable, after increasing in three of the previous four months. But compared to a year earlier, employment rose 1.8% in Quebec and the province’s unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage points.
In the Maritimes, the unemployment rate increased in New Brunswick from November to December, from 7.3% to 8.1%, as well as in Nova Scotia, from 6% to 6.7%. In contrast, it fell in Prince Edward Island, from 6.8% to 5.6%.