Canadian employment grows in August, jobless rate unchanged at 5.7 pct

Canada’s employment grew 81.1k net positions in August. More Canadians were in the labor force, leaving the jobless rate on hold at 5.7 percent. The six month employment trend now stands at a healthy 30.3k clip. Part-time hiring rose 57.2k, leading the way, but full-time work also rose slightly by 23.8k positions. The other split was solid. Hiring was entirely private sector and in employees as both public sector and self-employment fell.

Gains in August was mainly due to the service side of the economy, as most subsectors rose. Looking at the provinces, Ontario and Quebec led the way, recording a rise of 57.8k and 19.7k. Markedly, even as their labor forces grew, the jobless rate dropped in both provinces.

Wages slowed down slightly, but to a still-healthy 3.8 percent year-on-year rate. Aggregate hours worked continued their seesaw pattern, rising 0.7 percent in a reversal of July’s drop.

“On its face, today's report should be supportive of more spending, but remain cognizant of the divergence between income growth and spending in recent data. Even as labour markets have been healthy, retail sales volumes have moved sideways over the last year or so. As encouraging as today's data is, we think concrete evidence on the consumer front will matter more in the Bank of Canada's rate setting decisions”, said TD Economics in a research report.