UPDATES WITH MORE FIGURES
By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's employment decreased by 2,800 in July, according to official figures released Friday by Statistics Canada.
The market expectation for the figure was an addition of 26,900 after the North American country lost 1,400 jobs in June.
On an annual basis, however, employment was up by 346,000, or 1.7%, in July, compared to the same month of 2023.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.4% in July, compared to the previous month, and that figure came in slightly less than market expectations of 6.5%.
The employment rate, on the other hand, fell 0.2 percentage point to 60.9% in July, from 61.1% in June.
Employment decreased the most in wholesale and retail trade with a loss of 44,000, followed by finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing with a decline of 15,000.
Annually, average hourly wages among employees increased 5.2% in July, compared to the same month of last year, following a year-on-year growth of 5.4% in June, according to Statistics Canada.
"The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—declined by 0.2 percentage points to 60.9% in July," it said in a statement.
"The employment rate has followed a downward trend since reaching a high of 62.4% in January and February 2023 and has fallen in 9 of the last 10 months," it added.
Private sector employees fell by 42,000, 0.3%, in July, following two months of little change, but they were up by 86,000, or 0.6%, on an annual basis.
Public sector employment rose by 41,000, or 0.9%, in July, while it was up by 205,000, or 4.8%, compared with 12 months earlier.