See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

OTTAWA — Canada’s economy lost 68,000 jobs last month, pushing the unemployment rate up to 6.5%, according to new numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada.

In its latest Labour Force Survey , StatsCan said the national unemployment rate rose by 0.1% in September, following the loss of 42,000 jobs in August. Together, the losses nearly wiped out the employment gains recorded during the summer months.

The losses, the data says, were split almost evenly between full- and part-time positions, with Canada shedding 35,000 full-time jobs and 33,000 part-time positions in September.

Young workers hit hardest

Much of the monthly downturn came amid a fourth straight monthly decline in public sector employment. Canada lost 70,000 government jobs last month, a drop of 1.5%.

Over the past year, public sector employment has fallen by about 119,000 jobs.

Young workers took the biggest hit, with Canadians aged 15 to 24 losing 48,000 jobs last month.

Those losses were partly offset by about 25,000 new private sector jobs, although StatsCan described private sector employment as “little changed.”

As well, some sectors and regions still saw gains, with Alberta bucking the national trend by adding 23,000 jobs.

Quebec recorded the biggest losses, shedding 49,000 jobs, followed by British Columbia, which lost 20,000 positions.

  • Unemployment in Canada hits six-month high with 18,000 jobs shed: StatsCan
  • Carney blasts Elon Musk over Canadian separation comments

Tories raise concerns over job numbers

In a joint statement, Conservative Employment Critic Garnett Genuis and Youth Critic Gabriel Hardy expressed concern about the declining share of Canadians still looking for work.

“Canada’s labour market participation fell to 64.8%, the lowest since 1997 outside the pandemic,” the statement read.

“This means that a smaller share of Canadians are working or looking for work than at almost any point in nearly three decades.”

The Conservatives said September’s job losses were another warning sign of the struggles facing Canada’s economy under the Liberals.

“Canadians are facing higher costs of living, weak productivity growth and greater uncertainty about job opportunities.”

A government source told the Toronto Sun that September’s low labour force participation rate, compared with last year and pre-pandemic levels, can largely be attributed to an aging population.

“Using a method that holds constant the Sept. 2019 age composition of the population, the participation rate in Sept. 2026 would be little changed (-0.1 percentage points) year over year, and would be 0.2 percentage points higher than in Sept. 2019,” the source said.

The source also said employment is up by 95,000 jobs from a year ago, average hourly wages have increased by 2.3% year over year, and unemployment remains below April’s peak of 6.9%.

“You would think the Conservatives, of all parties, would support 24,000 new private sector jobs last month,” the source said, adding that private sector employment had increased by 163,000 positions year over year.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume