Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent in October as the economy shed 4,700 jobs, following losses of 42,000 in August and 68,000 in September.
Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent in October as more people went looking for work, while the economy shed 4,700 jobs. The rate was 6.5 per cent in September.
The October losses follow steeper declines of 42,000 jobs in August and 68,000 in September, for a net loss of 110,000 jobs over the previous two months. Statistics Canada also reported the country added just 17,000 jobs over the last 12 months.
"Very disappointing," said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO. "Normally in a month, if you see 4,700 job losses, it wouldn’t be as awful, if not for the fact that we lost on net 110,000 jobs in the previous two months."
"In a normal year, we would create more than 200,000 jobs," Guatieri said.
October’s job weakness was concentrated among private employers, a shift from recent months when much of the weakness had been in the public sector. Guatieri said higher interest rates and new tariffs are weighing on Canadian private sector businesses.
The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent in late October, and the United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods in August.
"I think that’s put a new chill in business confidence in Canada," Guatieri said. "We saw a flurry of job creation back in the spring of this year, early summer. That just simply has evaporated now."
Employment in Alberta fell by 24,000, and the province’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.3 per cent.
Unemployment among those aged 15 to 24 increased to 13.7 per cent, up from 13 per cent in September. Nearly one in four Canadians looking for work has been searching for at least six months.
Shenfeld put Canada’s "full employment" rate at around 5.8 or 5.9 per cent, well below today’s 6.7 per cent. Average hourly pay rose 2.2 per cent from a year earlier.
"Employers aren’t having to pay up a lot to get new workers in the door," he said.
Job postings in Canada rose about three per cent month over month, according to Cory Stahle, a senior economist with Indeed. Engineering and logistics support are among the fields where postings are picking up.
"Unfortunately, postings are not the same as hiring," Stahle said, adding that uncertainty over stalled trade talks with the U.S. is weighing on employers.
Three consecutive months of job losses and an unemployment rate above the level economists describe as full employment point to a weaker labour market. Economists said fourth-quarter growth could be sluggish, and the weak numbers could influence the Bank of Canada’s next rate decision in early December.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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