OTTAWA--Unemployed workers in Canada have had a more trying experience finding jobs in sectors highly exposed to the use of artificial intelligence, according to new research published by the Bank of Canada.

The analysis adds that younger Canadians are more at risk from the labor-market changes tied to AI.

The Bank of Canada said Thursday its research should be interpreted as early trends emerging from AI's wider adoption. The research is "not definitive about what is happening or will happen, because the future of AI is highly uncertain."

In speeches, Bank of Canada officials have encouraged the country's firms to invest in AI as a way to improve the country's lackluster productivity. "We do anticipate that some jobs will be replaced by AI. New jobs will emerge, and others will be transformed. We are monitoring the job market data closely for signs of these changes," Michelle Alexopoulos, a central bank deputy governor, said in May remarks.

The central bank said the research published Thursday was produced independently from the Bank of Canada's governing council, or the group of senior policymakers tasked with setting interest-rate policy.

The research indicated that job seekers may be finding it more difficult than it was in 2019 to secure employment in occupations that are now the most exposed to AI. Based on its modeling, the central bank paper estimated that one-third of jobs may undergo substantial changes due to AI integration.

Among the most exposed occupations, according to the central bank, are travel agents, payroll and accounting, banking and insurance clerks, and customer-service representatives. Among the least exposed are nursing, electricians, dentists and massage therapists.

Initial signals suggest that labor-force adjustments fueled by AI adoption "may show up first through slower hiring - a lower-job finding rate - rather than more people leaving jobs," the authors said. Official Canadian data indicate that the country's job-finding rate -- or share of unemployed people able to secure employment from one month to the next -- is in the 20% range, or below the pre-Covid-19 pandemic average of 26.6% from 2017 to 2019.

The modeling added that, in Canada, there is a decline over time in finding work in highly exposed AI jobs relative to occupations with low exposure to AI.

The central bank research said a sizable share of young workers tend to be employed in sectors with high-AI exposure. Overall, the research said, "this suggests that young workers may face higher AI-related labour market risks than older workers."