Data from Statistics Canada, while highly volatile from one month to the next, has nonetheless been confirming for several months, and especially for July 2013, the trend to weak job creation.
There were 39,400 fewer jobs in Canada in July, and the unemployment rate reached 7.2% (an increase of one tenth).
The most significant net loss of jobs occurred in the public sector (which also holds the record for the largest loss in a single month), mainly affecting young people, since hiring for summer positions has been sharply down this year.
Quebec was the worst off, with 30,400 fewer jobs in July (8.2% unemployment, +0.3% over the preceding month) and is therefore largely responsible for this summer’s poor results.
British-Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador also experienced setbacks in job creation, while the situation in Alberta, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan improved slightly.