Canada’s economy saw 46,700 new jobs added in September, with the unemployment rate dropping to 6.5%, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
The agency released its Labour Force Survey on Friday, which found that the 0.1% decline in the unemployment rate was the first decrease since January.
“Employment rose by 47,000 (+0.2%) in September while the employment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 60.7%. The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%,” reads the survey.
Employment rose the most of any cohort among youth aged 15 to 24, up 1.2%, followed by women aged 25 to 54 which saw an uptick of 0.3%.
Economic sectors which saw an increase in employment were “information, culture and recreation (+22,000; +2.6%), wholesale and retail trade (+22,000; +0.8%) and professional, scientific and technical services (+21,000; +1.1%).”
Provincially, Manitoba saw the highest increase in employment, up 0.7%, followed by Nova Scotia with a gain of 0.6%.
Ontario and Quebec both saw an increase of 0. while British Columbia saw a decrease of 0.6% as well as New Brunswick of 1%.
“Total hours worked fell 0.4% in September but were up 1.2% compared with 12 months earlier,” reads the survey.
Employees in the private sector grew for the second month consecutively in September, bringing the 0.5% rise to a year-over-year growth to 1.5%.
Public sector employment dropped by 0.5% last month, however, it remains up by 3% on a year-over-year basis.
Full time employment had the largest increase since May 2022, with 112,00 full time jobs added but this was offset by the loss of 65,000 part time jobs.
Canada’s participation rate, meaning those who are actively looking for work, saw a decline of 0.2%, continuing a downward trend since February 2023, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency also reported that Canada’s annual inflation rate reached the Bank of Canada’s 2% target in August, prompting many economists to expect the central bank will further cut its interest rate by another 50-basis-points at its next scheduled announcement in October.
The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points on September 4, bringing it to 4.25% and marking the central bank’s third consecutive decision to do so over the past year.
