The country’s unemployment rate has fallen for the first time in several months, according to Statistics Canada.
Canada added a total of 47,000 jobs in September after four consecutive months of little change.
StatCan said that pushed the unemployment rate down to 6.5 per cent, the first drop since January.
Full-time employment saw its largest gain in more than two years, partially offset by a drop in part-time work.
There were more people employed in information, culture and recreation, wholesale and retail trade and professional, scientific and technical services.
Youth and core-aged women drove the country’s employment gains in September, according to the latest labour force survey released Friday.
Despite the increase in jobs, the employment rate continued its downward trend in September, falling to 60.7 per cent.
StatCan said it comes as growth in the population aged 15 and older in the Labour Force Survey outpaced employment growth.
On a year-over-year basis, employment was up by 313,000 in September while the population aged 15 and older in the Labour Force Survey was up by 1.2 million (+3.6%).
Average hourly wages in September stood at $35.59, an increase of $1.58 or 4.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
At look at some of the provincial numbers
New Brunswick lost 1,300 full-time jobs and 2,800 part-time positions for an overall decrease of 4,100.
StatCan said that caused the unemployment rate to climb 0.2 percentage points to 6.7 per cent.
Nova Scotia lost 2,600 part-time positions and gained 5,600 full-time jobs for a net increase of 3,000.
That pushed the unemployment rate down four-tenths of a percentage point to 6.3 per cent.
Prince Edward Island saw a net increase of 600 jobs as the unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent.
Ontario gained 49,800 full-time positions and lost 6,600 part-time jobs for a net increase of 43,200.
The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent.
The full report can be found on Statistics Canada’s website.
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