Canada adds jobs in September Canada added 63,800 net jobs in September and the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5 per cent for the third month in a row, Statistics Canada reported on Friday, as the country's population continues to surge.
The increase was more than triple what was expected. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a gain of 20,000 jobs, and for the unemployment rate to edge up to 5.6 per cent from 5.5 per cent in August.
Average hourly wages increased 5 per cent annually in September, following an increase of 4.9 per cent in August.
"While September's gain in employment easily outpaced consensus expectations, there was some weakness within the detail which should limit the implications for the Bank of Canada," CIBC economist Andrew Grantham wrote in a research note on Friday. He noted that the increase in jobs "was not exactly broad based."
Gains in total employment were led by a 66,000 increase in jobs in the education sector, which helped offset declines in other sectors. Employment was also up in transportation and warehousing, while there were declines in the finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing and construction sectors.