Canada Posts Surprise Job Losses in August on Declines in Business, Building, and Public Sectors

09:04 AM EDT, 09/04/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Canada lost 42,000 jobs, or 0.2% month over month, in August, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.4%, said the country's statistical agency in its Labour Force Survey (LFS) released on Friday. August's employment drop came as a surprise, as a Bloomberg survey saw a 15,000 gain. The unemployment rate was as expected. Job losses were concentrated among youth aged 15 to 24, whose employment fell by 19,000, or 0.7% monthly, and core-aged workers aged 25 to 54, where employment declined by 16,000, or 0.1%, wrote Statistics Canada in a statement. The participation rate also edged down 0.1 percentage point to 65.0%, reversing July's increase, added StatsCan. By sector, employment fell most sharply in business, building and other support services (-20,000; -2.8%), followed by public administration (-8,800; -0.7%), natural resources (-7,700; -2.3%) and utilities (-5,600; -3.5%). Manufacturing was a bright spot, adding 22,000 jobs (+1.2%). Average hourly wages rose 2.0% year over year in August to CA$37.02, slowing from 2.8% growth in July and marking a second consecutive month of deceleration, according to the Ottawa-based agency. The monthly LFS estimates are based on a sample and are as such subject to sampling variability. As a result, monthly estimates will show more variability than trends observed over longer time periods. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. The LFS estimates are the first in a series of labor market indicators released by StatsCan, which includes indicators from programs such as the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH); Employment Insurance Statistics; and the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.