Montréal, July 9, 2021. – In June 2021, Québec had 4,291,600 employed persons (+72,300; +1.7% compared to the previous month) and the unemployment rate stood at 6.3% (–0.3%). This is according to the results of the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, released today.
Job numbers in June 2021 had increased by 764,000 since May 2020, which corresponds to nearly 93% of the 825,900 jobs lost between February and April 2020.
In June 2021, the number of part-time jobs had increased (+76,300) compared to May, whereas the number of full-time jobs (–4,000) had remained stable. Employment had increased in the private sector (+62,100), but had varied very little in the public sector (+4,800) and among self-employed workers (+5,400). The participation rate was 64.5% (+0.8 points), while the employment rate had increased to 60.5% (+1.0 points).
In Canada, job numbers climbed by 230,700 (+1.2%) in June, and the unemployment rate stood at 7.8% (–0.4 points). The biggest jumps in job numbers occurred in Ontario (+116,900), Québec (+72,300) and British Columbia (+42,100).
In the first six months of 2021, job numbers spiked by 201,400 in Québec compared to the same period in 2020. The increase mainly concerned full-time jobs (+144,800; +56,600 for part-time jobs). Compared to the average for the first six months of 2020, the unemployment rate in Québec declined by 3.0 percentage points to 6.8% (Canada: 8.2%; –1.5 points).
Employment and trend-cycle, Québec, June 2020 to June 2021
Note: Trend-cycle data are a smoothed version of seasonally adjusted data where the effects of irregular movements have been reduced. They are helpful in analyzing changes in the data over a longer period. For more information: Statistics Canada, Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2021. Adapted by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
Unemployment rate, Québec, June 2020 to June 2021
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2021. Adapted by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
Warning about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on LFS data
The effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the labour market in June should be interpreted with caution when analyzing the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
The survey reference period for June 2021 was June 13‒19. Correctly categorizing a person’s activity status according to the usual definitions of employment, unemployment1 and inactivity may have been more difficult in this edition of the survey, as it has been since the COVID-19 crisis began. The COVID-19 section of the Institut de la statistique du Québec website provides analyses of the impact of the pandemic in Québec. It should also be noted that the monthly data are based on a sample and thus subject to some variability.
[1] In the Labor Force Survey, an unemployed person is defined as a person who, during the reference period: 1) had been temporarily laid off, but expected to be called back to work and was available for work; 2) was unemployed, had actively sought employment in the past four weeks, and was available for work; or 3) was scheduled to start a new job within four weeks of the reference week and was available for work.
Institut de la statistique du Québec produces, analyzes, and disseminates official, objective, and high-quality statistical information on various aspects of Québec society. It is responsible for conducting all statistical surveys of general interest. Its valuable work makes it a strategic ally for decision makers and all those wishing to learn more about Québec.