Greater Sudbury's unemployment rate rose a bit last month, rising to 5.4 per cent compared to 5 per cent in July.
The city shed about 600 jobs in August, Statistics Canada reported Friday in its monthly labour force survey, with 84,600 people working out of a labour force of 89,500. That compares to 85,200 people who were employed in July out of a workforce of 89,700.
Even with the losses last month, the overall jobs picture is improved from the same time last year, when unemployment was 6.7 per cent and 80,800 people were working.
Canada-wide, Ontario saw the biggest gains, with 58,000 new positions, led by the wholesale and retail sectors. Quebec added 20,000 jobs across a wide range of industries. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick also saw increased jobs.
While the employment rate held steady in most provinces, British Columbia and Nova Scotia both saw unemployment rise 0.5 per cent as more people looked for work.
Canada's economy posted a job surge last month of 81,100 net new positions, the bulk of which were part time, in the services sector and picked up by young people.
StatsCan says that even with the increase, the August unemployment rate stayed at 5.7 per cent — near a four-decade low — as more people looked for work.
Year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees slowed to 3.7 per cent last month, decelerating from July's 4.5 per cent pace, which was the strongest monthly reading since January 2009.
The agency's latest labour force survey says the country saw a rush last month of 73,300 new positions in services industries and a boost of 94,300 jobs in the private sector. The report says 57,200 of the new jobs were part time and 42,000 of the positions were held by young workers aged 15 to 24.
Economists had expected an addition of 15,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent, according to the financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Compared with a year earlier, the numbers show Canada added 471,300 jobs — the majority of which were full time — for an increase of 2.5 per cent.
In a statement responding to the job numbers, Brian DePratto, senior economist with TD Economics, said "it is hard not to like today's report. Even the unchanged unemployment rate has a positive tone to it, coming from a rising labour force.
"Stepping back from the monthly swings, the trend remains healthy — a 30,000 average pace of hiring over the last six months is healthy by any measure."
Noting Canadian job growth outpaced that of the U.S. this month, Derek Holt, Scotiabank's head of capital markets economics, said in an email that Canada is on track to create about 450,000 new jobs this year.
– File from Canadian Press
