A new Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada shows that the Canadian job market shed 68,000 jobs and the unemployment rate grew to 6.5% in the month of September."Employment declined by 68,000 (-0.3%) in September and the employment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 60.6%. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%," the report reads.This marks the second consecutive month that Canada has reported an overall decline in the labour market.Regionally, Quebec saw the most losses of any province, reporting losing 49,000 jobs, the most of any province, followed by British Columbia, which lost 20,000, and Manitoba, which lost 4,400.The province that reported the highest job growth was Alberta, which recorded 23,000 new job gains, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador, which reported 1,800 new jobs.The vast majority of job losses were concentrated in the public sector, with September reporting a loss of 70,000 public sector jobs..The report states that, across the board, the main contributor to this public sector decline is losses in the educational sector."In September, the number of public sector employees declined by 70,000 (-1.5%). This was the fourth consecutive monthly decline for the sector. On a year-over-year basis, the number of public sector employees was down by 119,000 (-2.6%), with most of the decline attributable to employment in educational services."Despite the overall decline, the private sector saw overall growth, reporting an increase of 24,100 jobs, marking an increase of 163,000 jobs when compared to September of 2025.The overall decline has also led to a slight decrease in the unemployment rate, with the current national unemployment rate now sitting at 6.5%, an increase of just 0.1% compared to August."The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.5% in September. Earlier in the year, it reached a recent peak of 6.9% in April before declining to 6.4% in July and August. The unemployment rate in September was the same as it was at the start of the year (6.5% in January).".Youth employment, those aged 15 to 24, also dropped significantly, shedding 48,000 jobs, likely as a result of students in high school and postsecondary institutions going back to school after working summer jobs.The youth unemployment rate remained relatively stable, however, staying at around 13% of the youth population.The report also highlighted how people aged 65 and older accounted for 23.2% of the working-age population; this number was 14.8% at the turn of the century."The Canadian population is aging and is projected to continue to exert downward pressure on labour supply in the coming years," the report states.Another factor in the overall slumping of the labour market in Canada is a weak Canadian dollar compared to the American dollar..At the time of writing the current value of one Canadian dollar is worth just $0.70 in American currency.
