Unemployment little changed in May with slight rise to 7%: StatCan – National [Video]

For the third straight month, Canada’s unemployment rate has increased as the U.S. trade war develops and many businesses continue to face economic challenges from tariffs, with the manufacturing sector in particular getting hit the hardest.

Although Statistics Canada says the employment landscape was “little changed” overall in its report on Friday, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 7.0 per cent in May from 6.9 per cent in April.

Outside of the pandemic years, the unemployment rate Canada hasn’t been that high since 2016, and Statistics Canada also says that since January of this year there has been “virtually no job growth” overall.

“The persistent rise in the jobless rate is a loud warning bell,” says chief economist Doug Porter at the Bank of Montreal.

“Slack is still growing in the labour market, suggesting that the Bank of Canada may not be done cutting rates just yet.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies…