Photo by Brenda Gottsabend/Flickr

The Canadian government’s response to US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats must also contend with the growing weakness of our labour market.

A weak labour market is always bad for workers. But it is an even bigger problem as we deal with Trump’s attacks on Canada’s economy.

Canada’s current unemployment rate is 6.6 percent, down from a recent high of 6.9 percent. However, it is well above the 4.8 percent achieved in 2022, or even the 5.5 percent reached in 2019. The higher unemployment rate means hundreds of thousands of extra workers without paid work.

When labour markets are weak, workers from marginalized groups, such as young and racialized workers, or workers with disabilities, will feel the harmful effects sooner and more deeply. The labour force data for these groups is sounding an alarm.

The unemployment rate for workers from marginalized groups is always higher than the overall rate. The gap narrows when labour markets are strong as structural disadvantages are overcome by employers’ need for workers.

Among groups of marginalized workers, we have the longest data series for young workers. As seen above, the youth unemployment gap is pushing at multi-decade highs, which have always been reached during significant economic downturns. Before the pandemic, it was near record lows.

But it gets worse.

Historic numbers of young........

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