Following two months of increases, employment fell by 88,000 in January. Part-time employment declined (-137,000), while full-time employment was up (+49,000). At the same time, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.

On a year-over-year basis, employment grew by 289,000 or 1.6%. Gains were driven by increases in full-time work (+414,000 or +2.8%), while there were fewer people working part time (-125,000 or -3.5%). Over the same period, hours worked rose by 2.8%.

n January, employment declined for core-aged women (25 to 54 years old), as well as people 55 and older and youth aged 15 to 24. There was little change for core-aged men.

The largest employment declines were in Ontario and Quebec. There were also decreases in New Brunswick and Manitoba.