Canada: Unemployment Rate rises to 5.5% in July as expected; Employment drops by 6,400

"Employment was virtually unchanged in July (-6,000; -0.0%), as the number of people working full-time and part-time held steady. From January to July, monthly employment growth has averaged 22,000."

“On a year-over-year basis, average hourly wages rose 5.0% in July, following increases of 4.2% in June and 5.1% in May.”

“Total hours worked were virtually unchanged in July and were up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.”

“The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 5.5% in July, following increases in May (+0.2 percentage points) and June (+0.2 percentage points). This was the first time the unemployment rate had increased for three consecutive months since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

There were fewer people employed in construction (-45,000; -2.8%), public administration (-17,000; -1.4%), information, culture and recreation (-16,000; -1.8%) as well as in transportation and warehousing (-14,000; -1.3%). Employment rose in health care and social assistance (+25,000; +0.9%), educational services (+19,000; +1.3%), finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (+15,000; +1.1%) and agriculture (+12,000; +4.6%).