The unemployment rate rose to 6.7% in February, above expectations at 6.6%…

… on the back of a 108K decline in full-time employment, driven primarily by private sector job loss (down 73K).

At the industry level, employment was down across the board…

… illustrating the structural challenges facing our labour market. Though job vacancies in December were up for the first time in forever, there’s a long way to go…

… before long-term unemployment returns to more normal levels.