Canada’s unemployment rate continues to march higher, hits 6.6% in August
Full-time employment is still lower than it was four months ago. UNSPLASH/Glenov Brankovic
Canada’s economy added 22,000 jobs in August, its biggest increase in three months, but still saw the unemployment rate jump by 0.2 percentage points to 6.6 per cent, which is the highest since May 2017 outside of the pandemic.
The details of the jobs report don't look much better than headline. The employment gain masks a sharp decline in full-time employment (-44,000) , which was offset by a 66,000 increase in part-time work.
Full-time employment in Canada is still below what it was four months ago and the economy has created only 18,000 total jobs since May. Over that time, the labour force has increased by more than 110,000, thus the rising unemployment rate.
