Latest data released by Statistics Canada - 6 August 2021
Canada employment rose 1.2% to 18,884,000 in July
- Prior +230.7K
- Full time +83.0K
- Prior -33.2K
- Part-time +11.0K
- Prior +263.9K
- Goods sector +1.0K jobs
- Services sector +92.9K jobs
- Unemployment rate 7.5% vs 7.4% expected
- Prior 7.8%
- Participation rate 65.2%
- Prior 65.2%
- Average hourly wage for permanent employees +0.6%
- Prior +0.1%
- Full report
This is a modest report as job gains were more concentrated in full-time work for the month of July, as opposed to June. The increase in full-time work is the first since March.
Meanwhile, part-time employment held steady after the surge in June owing to the reopening of retail. The drop in the unemployment rate from 7.8% to 7.5% is also a positive, given that the participation rate held steady at 65.2%.
On the balance of things, there isn't much to dislike here and even with a strong US jobs report, this isn't going to exacerbate any downside for the loonie and should allow the BOC to stick with its current policy trajectory for the most part.
USD/CAD moved up from 1.2510 to 1.2530 on the initial release alongside the US jobs data but is settling back around 1.2510-15 now.
