Canada loses 31,200 jobs in July as full-time employment falls dramatically

The economy lost 31,200 jobs in July as the number of workers with full-time jobs fell dramatically and fewer younger Canadians were employed, Statistics Canada reported today.

Analysts had expected Canada's econoThe unemployment rate ticked up to 6.9 per cent, up from 6.8 per cent in June, an increase in line with economicsts' forecasts.

Statistics Canada said the number of full-time workers fell by 71,400 — the biggest one-month decline since October 2011.

The loss in full-time jobs was partially offset by an increase of 40,200 part-time jobs, the federal agency said.

Younger Canadians also had a tough time finding work, as there were 28,000 fewer jobs for the age 15 to 24 group.

Public-sector employment fell by 42,000 in July, while private-sector employment rose slightly.my would create about 10,000 jobs last month.

Census effect?

Some analysts said the big drop in public-sector employment was likely due to the end of thousands of jobs for census-takers.

"The jobs data aren't quite as bad as the early read would suggest, since much of the weakness appears to be due to the reversal of census workers," said BMO chief economist Douglas Porter in a morning commentary.

"There was a big drop in 'public administration,' ... which suggests that many of those working on the census may have fallen out of the figures, although StatsCan makes no mention of the census," he said.  

Ontario lost 36,000 jobs last month. Newfoundland and Labrador saw a smaller employment decline, while employment rose by 12,000 in British Columbia. B.C. now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at 5.6 per cent.

Alberta, on the other hand, saw its unemployment rate rise to a 22-year high of 8.6 per cent as more Albertans were looking for work.

Record trade deficit

Statistics Canada also released figures Friday that showed the country's merchandise trade deficit with the world grew to a record $3.6 billion in June from $3.5 billion in May.

Exports dropped 4.7 per cent to $124 billion — the largest decline since the second quarter of 2009. That widened Canada's quarterly trade deficit with the rest of the world from $6.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016 to a record $10.7 billion in the second quarter.

"Today's international trade figures released in Canada are actually weaker than they look at first blush (and they don't exactly look strong)," said Scotiabank Economics vice-president Derek Holt.