CMEDIA/Toronto: The Canadian labour market’s addition of 47,000 jobs in Sept led to the decline of the unemployment rate for the first time since January to 6.5, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.
“Ontario is once again leading the nation in job creation…our plan to keep costs down and create the right conditions to attract investments and jobs…This year alone, we’ve added nearly 200,000 jobs across the province, Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade said in a statement.
Following four consecutive months of little change, full-time employment also saw its largest gain since May 2022.
“The unemployment rate in the past year or so has been…higher…the fact that the unemployment rate is down a bit is encouraging.” BMO chief economist Doug Porter reported saying.
The steady unemployment rate hike over the past year and a half, hitting 6.6 percent in Aug with its inflation rate of two percent, the lowest level in more than three years due to the lower gas prices, helped Bank of Canada’s inflation to hit the target.
But Sept’s job gains driven by youth and women aged 25 to 54 lowered the employment rate in the month reflecting continued growth in Canada’s population.
With its most recent peak at 62.4 per cent in Jan and Feb 2023, Statistics Canada said the employment rate followed a downward trend due to population growth outpacing employment growth.
With a hike in the employment rate by 1.5 percent in Sept, there was a growth of the population aged 15 and older in the Labour Force Survey by 3.6 percent.
But the decrease in percentage of the working-age population that either has a job or is looking for one dropped in Sept with a continuation of a downward trend seen since late 2023.
