Canadian unemployment rate rises to 7% in May as economy adds 8,800 jobs

Construction workers on a condo site in Saint John on May 6.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate ticked up for the third consecutive month in May as the economy added 8,800 jobs.

The national jobless rate rose to 7 per cent last month, up from 6.9 per cent in April.

Statcan says that marks the highest unemployment rate since 2016 outside the pandemic years.

The wholesale and retail trade sectors were the major contributors to job gains in May, but those were offset by losses in public administration.

Manufacturing, which was hard-hit in April, shed roughly 12,000 jobs last month.

Statcan says there’s been virtually no overall employment growth since January, coming off strong job gains at the end of la

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