According to Statistics Canada,the July jobless rate was 5.8 per cent in Canada, down from six per cent the previous month.
However, the details of the report show things may not be as good as it looks at first glance. A surge of new part-time jobs (82,000 ), offset a loss in full-time work (28,000) last month to help the economy post a net gain of 54,100 positions and drop the unemployment rate to a four-decade low.
A closer look at the numbers also showed the public sector made the biggest contribution to the July increase with 49,600 new jobs, while the private sector added 5,200 positions.
Other aspects of the report revealed that the hourly wage growth, continued to dip (3.2 per cent after expanding 3.6 per cent in June and 3.9 per cent in May).
CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld wrote Friday in a research note to clients that the report contained a “good” set of numbers that will keep markets guessing whether the Bank of Canada will introduce its next interest rate hike in September or October. CIBC predicts the next rate increase will land in October.
Compared with a year earlier, overall employment was up 1.3 per cent following the addition of 245,900 jobs for an increase driven by 210,500 new full-time positions.
Industry Break Downs
The services sector saw the biggest gains last month with a combined net increase of 90,500 jobs, which was led by 36,500 new positions in education and 30,700 in health care and social assistance.
The goods-producing sector lost 36,500 jobs in July, with a loss of 18,400 positions in manufacturing and a drop of 12,300 in construction.
Ontario’s jobless rate lowest in 18 years
Across the provinces, Ontario gained 60,600 jobs — all in part-time work — and the unemployment rate dropped 0.5 percentage points to 5.4 per cent for its lowest reading since July 2000.
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