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 employment decline was concentrated among youth aged 15 to 24 (-48,000; -1.8%) as well as women aged 25 to 54 (-28,000; -0.4%).

There were fewer people working in educational services (-35,000; -2.2%), health care and social assistance (-23,000; -0.8%) as well as manufacturing (-13,000; -0.7%). There were more people working in 'other services' (+17,000; +2.1%), which includes repair and maintenance as well as personal or household services.

Employment decreased in Quebec (-49,000; -1.1%), British Columbia (-20,000; -0.7%) and Manitoba (-4,400; -0.6%). It increased in Alberta (+23,000; +0.9%), Newfoundland and Labrador (+1,800; +0.7%), and Prince Edward Island (+1,000; +1.0%).

Average hourly wages among employees rose 2.3% (+$0.86 to $37.64) on a year-over-year basis in September, following growth of 2.0% in August (not seasonally adjusted).

In September, employment declined by 68,000 (-0.3%), split between full-time work (-35,000; -0.2%) and part-time work (-33,000; -0.9%). The employment decline in September follows a decrease in August (-42,000; -0.2%).

Prior to these two consecutive monthly declines, employment had trended up from April to July (+181,000; +0.9%). On a year-over-year basis, employment was up by 95,000 (+0.5%) in September.

The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 60.6% in September, marking a second consecutive monthly decrease. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate in September was unchanged.

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.

The number of private sector employees was little changed for a second consecutive month in September but it was up by 163,000 (+1.2%) compared with 12 months earlier.

Self-employment edged down in September (-23,000; -0.8%). This follows an upward trend from April to July. On a year-over-year basis, self-employment was up by 51,000 (+1.9%).

he 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).

The layoff rate—representing the proportion of people who were employed in August but had become unemployed in September as a result of a layoff—was 0.7%, similar to the rate observed a year earlier (0.6%) and the average during the period from 2017 to 2019 (0.6%) (not seasonally adjusted).

The job-finding rate was 30.6% in September, down from 32.8% 12 months earlier and below the average of 36.5% during the period from 2017 to 2019. This refers to the proportion of people who were unemployed in August and had found a job in September.