The labor market remains strong in Canada as the unemployment rate in February stayed at 5%, very close to the historic low of 4.9%, according to data released today by Statistics Canada.

After the market created a net total of 150,000 jobs in January, it added another 22,000 jobs in February.

The hiring process has been on an upward trend since September 2022, with 348,000 additional people working in February 2023 compared to their number in August 2022, an increase of 1.8%.

While employment among people aged 55 to 64 increased by 25,000, or 0.7%, in February compared to January, continuing a strong upward trend that began in August 2022, it changed only slightly among people aged 25 to 54, and also among youth aged 15 to 24.

Employment also increased by 0.6% in the health care and social assistance sector, 0.9% in public administration, and 5% in public services.

The number of working women, across all age groups combined, increased by 214,000 between August 2022 and February 2023. Thus, women were responsible for 61% of the overall employment growth during this period.

The highest employment growth rate was also recorded in the Atlantic provinces: 2% in Prince Edward Island, the smallest Canadian province by population and area, 1.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 1.3% in New/New Brunswick.

However, employment in Nova Scotia, the largest of the four Atlantic provinces, declined by 0.9%.

In Ontario, the largest of the ten provinces in terms of population and economic size, employment remained steady in February after rising in three of the previous four months. The unemployment rate there was 5.1%, down from 5.2% in January.

As in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada’s largest metropolitan area, employment rose by 57,000 jobs in February, or 1.6%, with an unemployment rate of 5.6%.

In Quebec, the second largest province by population and economic size, the unemployment rate last month was 4.1%, up 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month.

The unemployment rate in the Quebec City urban area was 1.9%, the lowest rate among all urban areas in Canada.

In other provinces, the unemployment rate in the past February was as follows:

Newfoundland and Labrador 9.9% (11.8%), Nova Scotia 5.7% (5%), Prince Edward Island 7.3% (7.7%), New/New Brunswick 6.3% (7.5%), Manitoba 4.7% (4.2%), Saskatchewan 4.3% (4.3%), Alberta 5.8% (6%), and British Columbia 5.1% (4.4%).