Highlights
Data visualization
Evolution of the key employment indicators over one
Sources: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0380-01, and Québec International.
Overview of employment in major Canadian regions
Analysis
Stable employment in Québec City
Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) shows a slight decrease in employment in January 2024 (-0.06%). Labour market indicators show a slight decline in employment (-300 jobs), while the labour force remained at the same level as in December 2023.
The employment rate registered a small decrease of 0.1 percentage point (pp). The province of Quebec also saw a modest drop in its employment rate (-0.1 pp) for the third month in a row, as did Canada (-0.1 pp).
The lowest unemployment rate in Canada
Data shows that the unemployment rate grew slightly in the Québec City CMA in January 2024, reaching 2.8%. Nevertheless, the region remains in the first rank of Canadian CMAs in terms of the lowest unemployment rate, ahead of Saguenay (2.9%) and Abbotsford–Mission (3.6%). For the Québec City region, this represents a 0.4 pp increase compared to the previous year (2.4%).
A stable participation rate
The participation rate—which measures the number of people employed and unemployed as a percentage of the population aged 15 and older—decreased slightly (-0.1 pp), settling at 67.9%. This is an improvement of 2.7 pp from January 2023, when the participation rate was 65.2%. This translates to a total of 25,500 additional people in the labour force.
Despite a slight decrease in employment witnessed in the beginning of the year, the region’s labour market remains dynamic. In fact, compared to the same period last year, there was an increase of 22,800 jobs.
El Hadji Nimaga
Economist
Québec International
