Finance minister to speak about June job statistics in Manitoba

Manitoba’s latest job numbers indicate the province had Canada’s second-lowest unemployment rate and the lowest youth unemployment rate in June, Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding says.

Manitoba's latest job numbers indicate the province had Canada's second-lowest unemployment rate and the lowest youth unemployment rate in June, Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding says.

“We think that's a positive step forward,” Finance Minister Scott Fielding said at a news conference on Friday morning. “[But] we know there's far too many Manitobans that will still be unemployed and will need supports.”

The latest labour force survey from Statistics Canada says Manitoba has recorded an increase in total employment by 28,900 from May to June, Fielding said. Meanwhile, the provincial labour force increased by 23,600 people in June.

Manitoba also had a 13.3 per cent increase in part-time jobs, up 14,200 in June. Full-time employment was up 14,800, Fielding said.

Unemployment among youth in the province went down 3½ percentage points to 19.3 per cent, he said.

The province's unemployment rate went down to 10.1 per cent — below the national rate of 12.3 per cent. Employment in the private sector, which includes people who are self-employed, increased by 25,600 in June — a jump of 5.9 per cent from the previous month. That number is slightly lower than the national private sector rate of 6.9 per cent.

The province has spent more than $2 billion on coronavirus-related supports, Fielding said. Looking forward, he said, Manitoba will focus on investing in public health preparedness and in jobs and growth.

“Manitoba must grow our way out of the crisis, and not cut our way out of this crisis,” he said.

The Manitoba Gap Protection Program, which provides a one-time $6,000 loan to eligible small and medium businesses, has given money to more than 7,400 businesses, Fielding said, for a total of more than $44 million.

The Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program, a subsidy designed to encourage private-sector employers to bring back their employees or hire more people, has supported more than 220 employers in bringing back 600 employees, he said. More than $3 million has been spent on that program so far, Fielding said.

And the Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs Program, a subsidy that encourages employers to hire students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had more than 1,800 employers apply for money to help cover more than 4,000 student positions. The money spend on that program totals $20 million, Fielding said.

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More than 1,600 people have applied for the Manitoba Job Restart Program, Fielding said. That program provides up to $2,000 to Manitobans who go back to work and voluntarily stop collecting other government relief benefits they qualify for, including the Canada emergency response benefit and the Canada emergency student benefit.

Canada's economy added nearly one million jobs last month, as businesses reopened after COVID-19 shutdowns. But Statistics Canada reported that, despite the improvement, there are still 1.8 million fewer jobs in the country today than there were in February.

The government agency reported that Manitoba's employment numbers in April were only about 86.3 per cent of what they were in February. Last month, that went up to 97.1 per cent.

Employment increased in Manitoba for the second consecutive month in June, jumping by 29,000 jobs.

The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics will publish its full June 2020 Labour Force Survey bulletin later Friday afternoon, the province said in a news release.

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