"Job growth came from full-time employment, and the unemployment rate rose for the 'right' reason as more Canadians were engaged with job markets in August, reversing a four month trend".
- Brian DePratto, TD Bank
The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected last month, showing signs of significant recovery from the Alberta wildfires, official data showed on Friday. According to Statistics Canada, the country's employment change rose to a seasonally adjusted 26.2K in August from the preceding month's fall of 31.2K, while market analysts expected the Canadian employment change to jump 16.0K in the eight month of the year. The rise was mainly driven by the public sector, which created 57,000 positions in the reported month, whereas the private sector added only 8,300. Meanwhile, the number of self-employed people in Canada decreased 39,100 last month. The Canadian service sector added 15,400 positions, 16,300 of which were created in public administration. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate climbed to 7.0% in August, whereas economic desks anticipated the rate to remain unchanged at 6.9%. Locally, changes in the unemployment rate were mixed, as some regions posted slight decreases, while others reported big gains. Following the release of mixed data, the EUR/CAD pair advanced 0.26%, trading at C$1.4598, whereas the USD/CAD par rose 0.56%, trading at C$1.3007. However, the Loonie's weakness was also driven by low oil prices.
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