Young adult Manitobans select unemployment as top worry: Angus Reid

There are a few hurdles between Roquen Courchene and employment: no driver’s licence, a patchwork schedule with university. And, in the summer, the highest unemployment rate Canadian young adults have seen since the 1990s (outside the COVID-19 pandemic).

“All of my friends have jobs, but I think they applied when they were a bit younger,” said Courchene, 18. “Since I didn’t get a job when I was younger, I’m having a hard time finding one now.”

Across Canada, the Angus Reid Institute has tracked a growing number of young adults placing jobs and unemployment as their top concern.

Thirty-seven per cent of roughly 210 18- to 24-year-olds put unemployment as their top pick in a recent survey — more than doubling those labelling it a main concern in December.

Courchene, a University of Winnipeg statistics student, said he believes it’d be easier to get a job last year than now.

Young adults citing unemployment as their biggest worry is “somewhat of a new phenomenon,” said Jon Roe, a research associate with the Angus Reid Institute.

The Vancouver-based research group released new survey results Wednesday. It tracks Canadians’ economic concerns quarterly. Until recently, cost of living and housing affordability had been top of mind for young respondents, Roe said.

“They’re possibly looking for their first jobs or … maybe they’re looking for their first jobs right after graduating and they’re not finding them,” he said.

The survey’s sample size was too small to identify Manitoba young adults’ top concerns. Nationally, youth unemployment made headlines in June and July.

“Youth unemployment has been a persistent problem post-pandemic,” said Adam King, a University of Manitoba labour studies professor.

An ongoing trade war with the United States — and resulting uncertainty — has exacerbated the issue.

“There’s lots of evidence employers are delaying investments in hiring, but there’s also evidence that workers themselves, those who are in jobs, are less likely to be considering changing jobs,” King said. “Workers are sensing that things are tightening up.”

More than one-third of overall Manitoba respondents to the Angus Reid Institute’s survey said they were concerned they, or someone in their household, could lose their job because of the economy.

“On the one side, it does feel like everyone is sending out … hundreds of resumés, not getting anywhere,” said Hayden Maines, 26. “On the other hand, companies still need employees.”

He’s been unemployed since April, aside from performing at Fringe festivals; he was laid off after his term government position ended, he said. He’s currently upgrading his computer science degree in university.

“I have not found much in Winnipeg,” Maines said, considering the tech-sector jobs he’s seeking. “But I have found a lot of remote jobs from B.C. or from Edmonton that I could do here.”

The challenge is competing with workers across Canada, he added. Reaching the human interaction interview stage — potentially passing through artificial intelligence resumé sorting first — is another consideration, Maines said.

Manitoba’s overall unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in August. A year earlier, it was 5.8 per cent. In both periods, the province’s rate was lower than the national average.

The Angus Reid Institute surveyed 334 Manitobans, among 4,330 Canadians, for its latest economy-focused study. Responses came Aug. 28 through Sept. 5.

Cost of living and inflation were Manitobans’ top concerns. More than half of respondents — 57 per cent — said they couldn’t keep up with the cost of living.

This, despite the rate of inflation easing over the past couple years, Roe noted. Manitoba’s inflation rate was two per cent in August. The rate was 3.2 per cent in August 2023 and eight per cent in August 2022.

“If you’re a young Canadian, you’re not only dealing with a high cost of living, you’re also dealing with potentially struggling to find a job,” Roe said.

Since the survey wasn’t conducted with a random sample of Canadians, no margin of error can be ascribed to the results.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com