Canada sheds 68,000 jobs – unemployment rate rises to 6.5 percent
Employment in Canada fell unexpectedly for a second straight month. Young people and the education and health sectors were hit hardest.
Archive image · Photo: Wladyslaw / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Canada's labour market lost jobs for a second straight month in September. According to Statistics Canada, employment fell by about 68,000, or 0.3 percent, after roughly 42,000 jobs were lost in August. The unemployment rate rose from 6.4 to 6.5 percent. Both full-time and part-time work declined, by 35,000 and 33,000 respectively.
Education was hit hardest, with 35,000 fewer jobs, followed by health care and social assistance with 23,000 and manufacturing with 13,000. Among 15- to 24-year-olds, 48,000 jobs were lost, although the youth unemployment rate was little changed at around 13 percent, Global News reported. Employment among women aged 25 to 54 also fell markedly.
The figures are the last labour market data before the Bank of Canada's next interest rate decision on 28 October. The central bank has held its key rate at 2.25 percent for about a year. According to Global News, market expectations had recently shifted towards a possible rate increase.