Economic recovery continues as 90,000 jobs added in August
Statistics Canada says the economy added 90,000 jobs in August, the third consecutive monthly increase.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent for the month, compared with 7.5 per cent in July, bringing the rate to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The announcement topped consensus expectations and came after even stronger gains in the prior two months, wrote Royce Mendes, an economist with CIBC, in a research note. But he also pointed out some issues.
“There were a few flies in the ointment, with hours worked essentially unchanged,” he wrote.
Mendes also flagged that fewer people are trying to find jobs.
“Despite the low number of new COVID cases and the reopening of the economy during the month, weakness in participation suggests that potential workers were still hesitant about returning to the workforce.”
Gains were concentrated in full-time work and in the hard-hit service…
