Canada added more jobs in August

OTTAWA – Employment in this country rose by 90,000, or 0.5 per cent, in August, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, according to Statistics Canada.

The country’s unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 7.1 per cent, compared with 7.5 per cent in July.

#BreakingNews
-Canada adds 90,200 jobs in August (est. up 60,000)
-Unemployment rate at 7.1% vs 7.5% in July
-Full time jobs up 68,500
-Part time jobs up 21,700

(source; Bloomberg/Stats Canada)

— Mike Eppel (@eppman) September 10, 2021

This is the lowest rate since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered many businesses across Canada, putting thousands of people out of work.

Most of the gains in August were in full-time work in the services-producing industries — the accommodation and food services sectors. More than 68,000 new full-time positions were recorded last month, compared to 21,700 part-time openings.

Statistics Canada says gains in the service sector pushed employment there back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time, although there is still some areas that are lagging, such as retail and food services.

“Combined with gains in June and July, the August increase brought employment to within 156,000 (-0.8%) of its February 2020 level, the closest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The employment rate was 60.5% in August, 1.3 percentage points below the pre-pandemic rate,” the agency adds.