Surge in part time work offsets full time losses, helps drops unemployment rate
Statistics Canada's latest labour force survey says the July jobless rate is down from the previous month. Average hourly wage growth continues to slide
OTTAWA – A rush of new part-time jobs offset a drop in full-time work last month to help Canada post a net gain of 54,100 positions and drop the national unemployment rate down to a four-decade low.
Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey says the July jobless rate was 5.8 per cent, down from six per cent the previous month.
The report says the country added 82,000 less desirable, part-time positions last month – and lost 28,000 full-time jobs.
A closer look at the numbers shows the public sector made the biggest contribution to the July increase with 49,600 new jobs, while the private sector added 5,200 positions.
The report also says average hourly wage growth, which is closely monitored by the Bank of Canada, continued its gradual slide last month to 3.2 per cent in July after expanding 3.6 per cent in June and 3.9 per cent in May.
Compared with a year earlier, overall employment was up 1.3 per cent following the addition of 245,900 jobs for an increase driven by 210,500 new full-time positions.
