Canada Loses Jobs In July, Jobless Rate Climbs
- According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian economy lost 69,000 private sector jobs in July and the nation’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.7 percent. (With government jobs factored in, the loss was only 24,200.) Private-sector employment is 290,000 higher than it was in July 2018. Wages increased 4.5 percent during that time.
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 209,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time during the week that ended August 3, down from 217,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of first-time claims was 212,250, an increase of 250 from the previous week. During the week that ended July 27, 1.684 million individuals continued to receive federal jobless benefits, down from 1.699 million the week before. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell. In other labor-related news: there were 3 million jobs open in the United States at the end of June. More than half a million jobs (503,000) were available in the U.S. manufacturing industry in June.
- In other economic news: the U.S. Producer Price Index increased 0.2 percent between June 2019 and July 2019 and 1.7 percent between July 2018 and July 2019 and the number of new housing units under construction in Canada fell by 9.6 percent from June 2019 to July 2020.