After contracting slightly in July, employment increased by 40,000 (0.2%) in August. Since January, employment has increased by 174,000 (+0.9%) – or by 25,000 on average per month. The LFS data also shows that August’s increase in employment was outpaced by population growth (+103,000; +0.3%). As a result, the national, all-industry employment rate, which is the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed, fell 0.1 percentage points to 61.9%.

Canada’s overall unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5%. This follows consecutive increases in May, June, and July.

Construction’s labour force, meanwhile, reported growth of 9,000 (+0.5%) over the last 12 months to reach 1,654,200 workers. Employment added 6,400 (+0.4%) over the same period. As a result, the industry’s unemployment rate edged up slightly from 3.3% to 3.4%.