OTTAWA, (PNA/Xinhua) — Canada added 59,000 new jobs in August, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 7.1 percent, Statistics Canada announced Friday.
The number of new jobs is by far exceeding analysts’ expectation of 20,000 and is also much higher than employment gains averaging 12,000 per month during the past half year.
However, the new jobs are mainly part-time ones and concentrate on people aged 55 and over.
Health care and social assistance, in which employment rose by 60,000, led sectors with job gains during the month.
“Employment in this industry has been on a long-term upward trend and has increased by 2.5 percent since August 2012,” Statistics Canada said.
Information, culture and recreation saw an increase in employment by 33,000 after a two-month job decline.
More people also worked in accommodation and food services as well as in construction.
At the same time, fewer were employed in educational services, finance, insurance, real estate and leasing as well as agriculture.
In August, employees increased by 39,900 mainly within the private sector, the agency added.
Canadian dollar rose sharply by more than one percent against its U.S. counterpart on the news as well as the relatively poor jobs report in the U.S.