President Donald Trump has recently criticized Canada’s unemployment rate while praising the U.S. rate, prompting questions about how the two countries compare as the trade war escalates. Trump's comments targeting Canada's unemployment rate are among the most recent developments in the escalating trade war between the two countries since Trump first imposed tariffs against Canada in March 2025. While Trump has recently criticized Canada's unemployment rate, he has praised the U.S. unemployment rate as the economy remains a top concern for voters less than 40 days out from the midterm elections.
"Canada was offered the most generous trade deal of any of America’s trading partners despite being overwhelmingly reliant on access to the American economy, which is over 12-times larger than Canada’s economy," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Newsweek on Monday. "Canada rejected that deal to demand continued one-sided access to the American market with no reciprocity. President Trump was given a resounding Election Day mandate to put American workers, farmers, and businesses first, and the Administration will continue to deliver while lowering costs for everyday families.” Last week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Canada had "big unemployment," and said immigration was contributing to the unemployment numbers.
In August, he claimed Canada’s unemployment rate was “10% and rapidly rising." Canada’s statistics, however, tell a different story. The U.S. unemployment rate for this past August was 4.1 percent, compared to Canada's 6.4 percent rate. However, Trump's claim that Canada's unemployment rate had hit 10 percent is false.
According to data from StatCan, the Canadian government's national statistical agency, the last time Canada had hit a 10 percent unemployment rate or greater was in August 2020. At that same time period, the U.S. unemployment rate was 8.4 percent. While its unemployment rate is worse than the U.S. at 6.4 percent to 4.1 percent respectively, Canada’s unemployment numbers have improved more than the U.S. has since this time last year.
"One thing that is absolutely true is that the United States has a very low unemployment rate right now," University of Toronto economics professor Peter Morrow told Newsweek. "By that measure, the United States economy is actually quite strong, and the labor market is quite good." Morrow added that the U.S. economy has been stronger than Canada's for some time. Tariffs and trade wars can affect unemployment rates.
As the imported goods become more expensive to buy, exporters might face lower sales, which could lead to layoffs. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trade partner, and some of the industries most vulnerable to impacts from tariffs include the auto industry and steel and aluminum. However, the Canadian unemployment rate has improved from 6.8 percent in March 2025, when Trump first imposed the tariffs, to 6.4 percent in August 2026.
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