Canada’s

labour market

added 67,000 jobs in October, with the

unemployment rate

falling to 6.9 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent the month before.

Most of the employment growth in October was driven by part-time positions, Statistics Canada said on Friday, with industries such as wholesale and retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and information, culture and recreation recording job gains during the month.

Friday’s numbers beat the consensus call among economists, who had expected a loss of 20,000 jobs and for the jobless rate to tick up to 7.2 per cent.

October’s job gains come on top of the 60,000 jobs added in September. Statistics Canada said the employment gains in September and October offset the cumulative job losses recorded in July and August.

Still, employment in the goods-producing sector between January and October of this year has now recorded a net decline of 54,000, largely reflecting decreases in manufacturing and construction. Employment in the construction sector was down 15,000 last month, while the manufacturing sector remained mostly unchanged, adding 8,700 jobs in October.

In contrast, employment in services-producing sectors was up 142,000 positions during the same period. The employment rate ticked up to 60.8 per cent in October and average hourly wages were up 3.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis, compared to 3.3 per cent in September.

During its last interest rate decision in October, the

Bank of Canada

cut its policy rate for the second straight time by 25 basis points, bringing the policy rate down to 2.25 per cent, the lower bound of what the central bank estimates as its neutral range. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said the policy rate was at about “the right level” and signalled the bank would be done with its easing cycle if the economy operates in line with its forecast.

Macklem said he expects the labour market to remain “weak,” although slowing population growth would mean there would be less monthly job gains needed to keep the employment rate steady.

Canada’s trade war with the United States

has entered its eighth month, with trade talks between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump at a standstill. Sectoral tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos remain in place. The country’s job market has been particularly hard-hit for these industries and regions that rely on U.S. bilateral trade.

Notably, the layoff rate in October was 0.6 per cent, virtually unchanged from where it was a year earlier. Long-term unemployment, the proportion of unemployed people who had been continuously searching for work for 27 weeks or more, was also little changed compared to a year earlier at 21.3 per cent.

The youth unemployment rate declined for the first time since February, which fell by 0.6 percentage points to 14.1 per cent in October.

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• Email: jgowling@postmedia.com