Ottawa —Canada’s unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.7 percent in October as employment slipped by 4,700, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The second straight increase in the jobless rate comes nine days after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates, and it sets a softer Canadian labor market against a stronger US jobs report released the same morning.
The agency described employment as little changed, with no change in percentage terms. The employment rate, the share of people aged 15 and older who have a job, fell 0.1 percentage point to 60.5 percent, its third monthly decline in a row. October’s dip followed bigger losses of 68,000 jobs in September and 42,000 in August. Over the 12 months to October, employment rose by a net 17,000, or 0.1 percent.
The rise in unemployment came mainly from more people looking for work rather than from a jump in layoffs. The number of job seekers rose by 33,000, or 2.2 percent, and the layoff rate was 0.7 percent, little changed from 0.6 percent a year earlier. The jobless rate was still 0.2 percentage points lower than a year earlier and below the recent peak of 6.9 percent in April 2026. Investing.com described the October level as a six-month high.
Private hiring falls, and fewer jobless people find work
The headline figure hides a larger shift between sectors. Private-sector employees fell by 53,000, or 0.4 percent, the first decline since February. Public-sector employees rose by 50,000 after four straight monthly declines that together removed 148,000 jobs.
By industry, wholesale and retail trade shed 29,000 jobs and is down 113,000, or 3.7 percent, from a year earlier. Construction added 16,000 jobs and educational services added 15,000. Alberta lost 24,000 jobs, and its unemployment rate jumped 0.9 percentage points to 7.3 percent. British Columbia added 12,000 jobs. Ontario’s jobless rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 7.3 percent, while Quebec’s fell 0.3 points to 5.7 percent.
Some measures point to a slow labor market. Youth unemployment rose 0.7 percentage points to 13.7 percent. Of the 1.5 million people out of work, 23.7 percent had been looking for 27 weeks or more, up from 21.5 percent a year earlier and well above the 2017 to 2019 average of 17.2 percent. Only 18.9 percent of people who were unemployed in September had found work by October, compared with an average of 24.6 percent for the same months in 2017 to 2019.
Wage growth also slowed. Average hourly wages rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier to $37.89, after 2.3 percent growth in September. Statistics Canada also reported that 29.7 percent of Canadians lived in households that had difficulty meeting their financial needs, up 2.0 percentage points over 12 months. It was the first increase in that share since 2022.
A contrast with the US, and a test for the Bank of Canada
South of the border, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, and the US unemployment rate was little changed at 4.1 percent. US average hourly earnings grew 3.1 percent over 12 months, almost a full percentage point faster than in Canada.
The Bank of Canada raised its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 2.50 percent at its October 28 decision. That was its first move since a cut in October 2025.
The central bank’s next rate announcement is on December 9. Before then, Statistics Canada will release one more Labour Force Survey, for November. Policymakers will be watching whether private-sector job losses continue, whether wage growth keeps slowing, and whether the jobless rate moves back toward its April peak.
