Highlights
Employment declined by 66,000 (-0.3%) in August, largely the result of a decline in part-time work, and the employment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 60.5%. The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 7.1%.
Employment fell for core-aged (25 to 54 years old) men (-58,000; -0.8%) and core-aged women (-35,000; -0.5%) in August. There was little change in employment for youth aged 15 to 24 and people aged 55 and older.
Employment decreased across several industries in August, led by professional, scientific and technical services (-26,000; -1.3%), transportation and warehousing (-23,000; -2.1%), and manufacturing (-19,000; -1.0%). On the other hand, there was an increase in construction employment (+17,000; +1.1%).
Several provinces recorded employment declines in August; the largest were in Ontario (-26,000, -0.3%), British Columbia (-16,000; -0.5%) and Alberta (-14,000; -0.6%).
Total hours worked were little changed in August (+0.1%) and were up 0.9% compared with 12 months earlier.
Average hourly wages among employees increased 3.2% (+$1.12 to $36.31) on a year-over-year basis in August, following growth of 3.3% in July (not seasonally adjusted).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).