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The unemployment rate rose to 7.1 per cent and the Canadian economy lost 66,000 jobs in the month of August, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Unemployment rate rose to 7.1% last month
CBC News · Posted: Sep 05, 2025 8:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago
Applicants at the CNE’s job fair wait in line at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, on July 30, 2025. (Alex Lupul/CBC)
The unemployment rate rose to 7.1 per cent and the Canadian economy lost 66,000 jobs in the month of August, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The agency says most of the jobs lost — some 60,000 — were part-time ones, while there was little change in the number of full-time jobs.
Most of the jobs lost were also among workers between 25 to 54 years old, with little change in youth employment, according to StatsCan.
The figures are more dire than some had predicted — a Reuters poll of economists ahead of the release predicted a gain of 10,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to rise to seven per cent.
In July, the economy lost 41,000 jobs and unemployment remained steady at 6.9 per cent.
The employment rate has been falling this year, down from a 6.6 per cent rate in January.
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