Canada jobless rate remains unchanged in Sep, additional jobs at near 4-year high

The rate of unemployment remained unchanged in Canada during the month of September, although the number of jobs added soared to near four-month high during the period, mostly owing to a surge in part-time work and self-employment.

Canada’s economy added 67,000 jobs in September, blowing past expectations for meagre employment growth, and the jobless rate remained stuck at 7 percent, data released by Statistics Canada’s monthly labour force survey showed Friday.

Part-time employment increased by 44,000 positions and full-time work rose by 23,000 spots. Self-employment, which is made up of both part-time and full-time employment, soared by 50,000 new jobs. Over all, the private sector created 17,000 positions with new positions in business, finance and technical services. The transportation, manufacturing and construction industries also added spots.

Further, the Bank of Canada’s quarterly business outlook survey, released on Friday showed signs of improvement. The survey said more companies planned to boost spending and hiring over the next year and that resource companies sense that the commodities slump has bottomed. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected the country to create 7,500 jobs and the unemployment rate to stay at 7 percent.

Meanwhile, there has been little employment growth among core age workers, or those between the age of 25 and 54. That group shed full-time jobs for the fourth consecutive month, although it saw a rise in part-time employment, reports showed.