Persistent uncertainty around US trade policy has kept Canadian businesses on tenterhooks, discouraging hiring.
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Canada had almost 1.6 million people unemployed in August as the economy lost thousands of jobs and its unemployment rate reached a nine-year peak, barring the pandemic years.
On Friday, data released by Statistics Canada showed its unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points in August to 7.1 percent, a level last seen in May 2016 if the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021 were excluded.
The economy shed 65,500 jobs in August, largely in part-time work, it said, adding that this was fuelled not only by reduced hiring but also some layoffs, with the layoff rate rising to 1 percent in August, compared with 0.9 percent observed 12 months earlier.
