Employment rose by 41,000 (+0.2 per cent) in April, all in part time work.

Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of private sector employees rose by 299,000 (+2.3 per cent) in April, while there were 81,000 (+2.0 per cent) more people working in the public sector.

In Ontario, employment rose by 33,000 (+0.4 per cent) in April, bringing cumulative gains for the province since September 2022 to 205,000 (+2.7 per cent).

In Prince Edward Island, employment rose by 2,200 (+2.5 per cent) in April.

Employment in wholesale and retail trade increased by 24,000 (+0.8 per cent) in April, following little change in February and March and a rise of 59,000 in
January.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.0 per cent in April, unchanged since December 2022.

Employment for core aged men (25 to 54 years old) rose by 18,000 (+0.3 per cent) in April, following two months of little change. The employment gain among core aged men in April was all in part time work.

Employment for men aged 55 and older rose by 16,000 (+0.7 per cent) in April.

Part time employment increased by 48,000 (+1.3 per cent) in April, the first notable increase in part time work since October 2022.

On a year over year basis, average hourly wages rose 5.2 per cent (+$1.66 to $33.38) in April (not seasonally adjusted).

Of those who worked part time, 15.2 per cent did so involuntarily, meaning they would have preferred a full time position.

The labour force participation rate held steady at 65.6 per cent in April.