Canada’s unemployment rate rises to 6.6% in August amid challenging job market

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate increased to 6.6 per cent in August – up from 6.4 per cent in July – as students continued to face a difficult summer hiring season.

The agency’s labour force survey says the economy added a modest 22,000 jobs last month, lagging the pace of population growth.

Employment rose in educational services, health care and social assistance and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing.

Meanwhile, it fell in professional, scientific and technical services, utilities and natural resources.

Students returning to school in the fall faced an average unemployment rate of 16.7 per cent between May and August, the highest since summer 2012, excluding the pandemic summer of 2020.

Workers’ wages continued to increase rapidly in August, with average hourly wages up five per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.16.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.