Canadian employment remains unchanged in July, jobless rate rises marginally to 5.7 pct

Canadian employment remained effectively unchanged in July, falling by a net 24.2k positions. The jobless rate rose by two ticks to 5.7 percent as the fall in jobs combined with a few more Canadians engaging with labor markets.

The fall was split fairly evenly between full-time and part-time work. Nevertheless, most of the fall was in private sector employment, and among employees. If it were not for a modest gain in self-employment, the headline would have been worse, noted TD Economics in a research report.

The service sector led the fall with marked drops in retail & wholesale trade transportation and other services. The goods-producing sectors held up on balance, but this was mainly because of solid hiring in the construction sector; all other major sectors shed jobs on net last month.

Region wise, Alberta saw the largest net drop, with Ontario also reporting a modest fall. Only Quebec saw a marked gain. The heat in this report was in wages as the hourly rate for permanent employees rose 4.5 percent year-on-year, the most rapid rate since early-2009. On the contrary, hours worked dropped 0.7 percent on the month, bringing the year-on-year rate to just 0.7 percent.

“While it is being flattered somewhat by weakness around this time last year, wage gains accelerated well beyond market expectations, suggesting that the recent pause in net hiring may be reflective of tight labour conditions”, said TD Economics