Canada’s labour market weakened in August as the economy lost 42,000 jobs, though the national unemployment rate held steady at 6.4%.
Employment fell across several industries, including the public sector, natural resources, utilities, and business support services. Manufacturing was the exception, adding about 22,000 jobs during the month.
Despite the monthly decline, Canada has added 217,000 jobs over the past year, with most growth coming from health care, transportation, and recreation.
Economists had expected the country to gain around 15,000 jobs, making August’s results a surprise. Still, TD and RBC economists said the overall labour market remains relatively resilient, pointing to steady annual job growth and rising hours worked.
They added that the impact of the latest U.S. tariffs is more likely to appear in September’s employment report, since the new trade measures began after Statistics Canada’s survey period.
