Unemployment record low

UPDATE 5:46 a.m.

Statistics Canada says the economy added 27,700 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since comparable data become available in 1976.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.4 per cent compared with 5.7 per cent in April as the number of people looking for work fell sharply.

Economists on average had expected the addition of 8,000 jobs for the month and an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The better-than-expected increase in the number of jobs follows a record 106,500 jobs that were added in April.

The increase in jobs was made up entirely of full-time employment as there was no change in the number of part-time jobs.

Year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees, a key indicator monitored by the Bank of Canada ahead of its interest-rate decisions, 2.8 per cent in May, up from 2.5 per cent in April.

Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

— St. John's, N.L. 8.0 per cent (7.9)

— Halifax 5.2 (5.1)

— Moncton, N.B. 5.9 (5.9)

— Saint John, N.B. 5.8 (5.9)

— Saguenay, Que. 4.1 (4.7)

— Quebec 2.8 (3.3)

— Sherbrooke, Que. 3.4 (3.4)

— Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.4 (5.5)

— Montreal 5.4 (5.4)

— Gatineau, Que. 5.3 (5.6)

— Ottawa 5.5 (5.5)

— Kingston, Ont. 4.4 (4.6)

— Peterborough, Ont. 5.8 (6.0)

— Oshawa, Ont. 5.3 (4.8)

— Toronto 6.3 (6.6)

— Hamilton, Ont. 4.3 (3.9)

— St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 5.8 (6.5)

— Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 4.9 (4.9)

— Brantford, Ont. 5.4 (5.0)

— Guelph, Ont. 4.8 (4.0)

— London, Ont. 5.0 (4.8)

— Windsor, Ont. 5.7 (5.6)

— Barrie, Ont. 7.3 (7.0)

— Sudbury, Ont. 5.1 (5.4)

— Thunder Bay, Ont. 5.1 (6.0)

— Winnipeg 5.1 (5.2)

— Regina 4.4 (4.5)

— Saskatoon 6.1 (6.1)

— Calgary 7.0 (7.6)

— Edmonton 6.8 (6.9)

— Kelowna, B.C. 4.2 (4.4)

— Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 5.6 (5.5)

— Vancouver 4.2 (4.4)

— Victoria 3.6 (3.1)

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UPDATE 5:45 a.m.

Canada's national unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent in May. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

— Newfoundland and Labrador 12.4 per cent (11.7)

— Prince Edward Island 9.0 (8.6)

— Nova Scotia 6.5 (6.9)

— New Brunswick 7.2 (8.0)

— Quebec 5.0 (4.9)

— Ontario 5.2 (6.0)

— Manitoba 5.0 (5.2)

— Saskatchewan 5.2 (5.4)

— Alberta 6.7 (6.7)

— British Columbia 4.3 (4.6)

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ORIGINAL 5:39 a.m.

Statistics Canada says the economy added 27,700 jobs in May, far more than economists expected.

The unemployment rate also fell to a record low of 5.4 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent in April.

Economists had expected a gain of 8,000 jobs for the month and the unemployment rate to remain at 5.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

More coming