OTTAWA –
Statistics Canada says the economy added 157,000 jobs in September, bringing employment back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.9 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in August.
The last time Canada had this large an employment gain was in June 2021, when the economy added 231,000 jobs.
The statistics agency says the job gains were widespread, but concentrated in full-time work and evenly split between the public and private sector.
Still, the ranks of long-term unemployed who have been without work for six month or more remained little changed last month and was still double the number recorded in February 2020.
And Statistics Canada notes that the employment rate remains just below the pre-pandemic figure, reflecting the fact that job growth hasn’t matched population growth over the past 19 months.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2021
