Unemployment rate rises to 7.0%
Employment was little changed in May (+8,800; +0.0%) and the employment rate held steady at 60.8%. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 7.0% in May, the highest rate since September 2016 (excluding 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic). The uptick in May was the third consecutive monthly increase; since February, the unemployment rate has risen by a combined total of 0.4 percentage points.
Source: Labour Force Survey, May 2025
Significant, widespread decline in exports in April 2025
Canada's merchandise exports dropped 10.8% to $60.4 billion in April 2025, the lowest level since June 2023. In April 2025, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world was the largest on record. The high values for exports to the United States in late 2024 and early 2025—before the tariffs were imposed—gave way to decreases in more recent months, and especially in April. Overall, decreases were observed in 10 of the 11 product sections.
Source: Canadian international merchandise trade, April 2025
Goods-producing businesses are mainly responsible for the overall growth in productivity in the first quarter of 2025
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses grew 0.2% in the first quarter of 2025, a marked slowdown compared to the 1.2% growth observed in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, the overall growth in productivity was mainly attributable to goods-producing businesses. Productivity growth in goods-producing businesses, which had reached 0.3% in the previous quarter, accelerated to 0.8% in the first quarter. Wholesale trade (+2.6%), agriculture and forestry (+2.0%) and utilities (+1.5%) recorded the largest gains, while real estate (-3.9%) posted the largest decline.
Source: Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, first quarter 2025
Strong growth in Canada's sport sector in 2023
Canada's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) attributable to culture and sport increased 5.6% from 2022 to reach $70.8 billion in 2023; this outpaced the growth of total economy GDP (+2.7%). Sport GDP was up 9.0% in 2023, totalling $7.6 billion, with all subdomains increasing. Organized sport saw the largest increase, with GDP growing by 11.5% to reach $2.1 billion; this level surpassed the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level from 2019 for the first time.
Source: Provincial and Territorial Cultural Indicators, 2023
Natural gas prices fall to the lowest levels in more than 40 years
Canadian production of natural gas reached a series high of 8.0 billion gigajoules in 2024, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year. Increased production by domestic producers in anticipation of the new liquified natural gas export terminal, combined with elevated storage levels and reduced demand during the winter, resulted in a supply glut that caused prices to plummet in the second half of 2024. In September 2024, natural gas prices fell 33.4% year over year to the lowest level since the beginning of the series in 1981.
Source: Record high production, and record low prices: Natural gas year in review, 2024
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