OTTAWA — The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent in October as Statistics Canada says more people were looking for work.
That’s up from 6.5 per cent in September and came alongside a loss of 4,700 jobs in October.
The labour market has been in a tough stretch lately, having shed 110,000 jobs cumulatively across September and August. A Reuters poll of economists had expected the economy would bounce back with a gain of 13,600 jobs in October.
“For anyone hoping that October would bring a recovery in the Canadian job market after back-to-back negative surprises, today’s release is a disappointment,” said Sneha Puri, economist with jobs search site Indeed, in a media statement.
Private sector employment fell by 53,000 positions last month, marking the first decline in the segment since February. Employment in the public sector, meanwhile, was up 50,000 positions.
StatCan noted that, on a year-over-year basis, private sector jobs are still up while the public sector is down.
The unemployment rate for young workers aged 15 to 24 jumped to 13.7 per cent in October, up 0.7 percentage points from September, as employment edged down and more youth looked for work.
Young workers have faced a generally tough labour market in recent years but there had been little change in the jobless rate for the age group over the summer.
StatCan said the unemployment rate was higher for students compared with youth not attending school.
Employment in the wholesale and retail trade industry has trended down over the past year and the sector led losses in October, shedding 29,000 roles. Transportation and warehousing and food and accommodation also posted losses last month, offset by some gains in construction and education.
StatCan said the layoff rate – the proportion of people employed in September who were laid off by October – was “virtually unchanged” compared with a year earlier at 0.7 per cent.
Average hourly wages rose 2.2 per cent annually in October, edging down from 2.3 per cent in September.
Puri said Indeed’s job postings ticked up at the end of last month, which could be an indication of future hiring.
If Canada can gain clarity on U.S. trade policy in the wake of the midterm elections this week, she said that could give employers the confidence to hire again.
“If this optimism isn’t then translated into a strong jobs report in the months ahead, the surprising weakness in headline employment will start to look less temporary and more like the beginning of a renewed cooling in the labour market,” Puri warned.
The October job figures come a little over a week after the Bank of Canada delivered its first interest rate hike in more than three years. Officials at the central bank said at the time that resilience in the economy and fears inflation could start to spread justified raising the policy rate by a quarter point to 2.5 per cent.
Thomas Ryan, senior North America economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients that the uptick in the unemployment rate and muted wage growth should tell the Bank of Canada that there’s still slack in the job market right now.
The October jobs data should therefore push back on calls for much more tightening of monetary policy, he argued.
“Ultimately, this adds to our conviction that the bank will hike rates no more than twice more as a precaution against upside inflation risks, before calling it a day,” Ryan said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2026.
By Craig Lord
