An economist at TD is summing up Canada’s August job numbers in three words: “What a mess.”
But it’s a different story for B.C., with data released Friday (Sept. 6) from Statistics Canada revealing the province added 9,900 jobs to the labour force compared with the 51,600 jobs lost across Canada.
“This was yet another month of jobs numbers with odd details,” TD senior economist Brian DePratto said in a note to investors.
While the nation added 40,400 full-time positions, those gains were overtaken by the 92,000 part-time jobs lost last month.
Most of the losses in Canada were concentrated in Ontario.
Meanwhile, DePratto noted August was the third consecutive month in which wage growth softened.
“This isn't all that bad of a report, with the notable exception of wages,” he said.
“For the Bank of Canada, this report will likely be put into the broader context of slowing trend job gains consistent with an economy operating near capacity. Given this week's messaging, we continue to see October as the likely timing for the next monetary policy interest rate hike.”
B.C.’s unemployment rate moved up three ticks to 5.3 per cent as more people entered the labour force looking for work.
The nation’s unemployment rate went up 0.2 percentage points to land at 6 per cent.
