Employment was little changed in July (-2,800; -0.0%), while the employment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 60.9%.

Average hourly wages among employees increased 5.2% (up $1.73 to $34.97) on a year-over-year basis in July, following growth of 5.4% in June (not seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.4%.

Employment declined in Manitoba (-5,400; -0.8%) and Nova Scotia (-4,800; -0.9%) in July, while it increased in Ontario (+22,000; +0.3%) and Saskatchewan (+6,700; +1.1%).

Employment fell in wholesale and retail trade (-44,000; -1.5%) as well as in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (-15,000; -1.0%) in July. Employment increased in public administration (+20,000; +1.6%), transportation and warehousing (+15,000; +1.4%) and utilities (+6,200; +4.2%).

The number of private sector employees fell by 42,000 (-0.3%) in July, following two months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, private sector employment growth was up by 0.6% (+86,000) in July.

Public sector employment rose by 41,000 (+0.9%) in July and was up by 205,000 (+4.8%) compared with 12 months earlier. Public sector employment gains over the last year have been led by increases in health care and social assistance (+87,000; +6.9%), public administration (+57,000; +4.8%) and educational services (+33,000; +3.3%) (not seasonally adjusted).

Self-employment was little changed in July and was up by 55,000 (+2.1%) on a year-over-year basis.

Employment declined for young men aged 15 to 24 (-20,000; -1.5%) in July, while it held steady for women of the same age group. The employment rates of young men (-5.5 percentage points to 52.4%) and young women (-2.4 percentage points to 55.7%) were down on a year-over-year basis.

Employment increased by 48,000 (+0.7%) among core-aged men (25 to 54 years old) in July. The increase in the employment rate for this group in July (+0.2 percentage points to 86.8%) partially offset the cumulative decline of 0.7 percentage points in May and June.

On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate was down both for core-aged women (-1.0 percentage points to 80.5%) and core-aged men (-0.9 percentage points to 86.8%) in July.

Recent immigrants often face barriers integrating into the labour market, including difficulties getting educational credentials or work experience acquired abroad recognized and lacking job experience or references in Canada.

From July 2023 to July 2024, the unemployment rate of recent immigrants (who had landed in Canada within the previous five years) rose 3.1 percentage points to 12.6% (three-month moving averages, not seasonally adjusted).