The jobless rate held steady at 6.4% while employment losses were concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

Employment fell among youth aged 15 to 24 (-19,000; -0.7%) and edged down (-16,000; -0.1%) among people in the core-age (25 to 54 years old).

While the overall unemployment rate was unchanged in August, it increased among core-aged men (+0.2 percentage points to 6.0%) and fell for core-aged women (-0.2 percentage points to 5.0%). The unemployment rate was little changed for youth (12.9%) and people aged 55 and older (5.1%).

Employment declined in business, building and other support services (-20,000; -2.8%), public administration (-8,800; -0.7%), natural resources (-7,700; -2.3%) and utilities (-5,600; -3.5%), while it increased in manufacturing (+22,000; +1.2%).

Employment declined in Quebec (-19,000; -0.4%) and edged down in Ontario (-18,000; -0.2%), the two provinces hardest hit by US tariffs. Employment increased in New Brunswick (+2,400; +0.6%) and was little changed in the other provinces.

Average hourly wages among employees were up 2.0% (+$0.71 to $37.02) on a year-over-year basis in August, following growth of 2.8% in July (not seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.4% in August. This follows three consecutive monthly declines in May, June and July totalling 0.5 percentage points.

Among the 1.5 million people who were unemployed in August, 24.0% were in long-term unemployment, meaning they had been continuously searching for work for 27 weeks or more. This proportion was similar to that of August 2025 (23.0%) and remained above the pre-COVID-19 pandemic average of 17.1% recorded from 2017 to 2019.

The layoff rate was 0.8% in August, slightly below the rate of 1.0% observed 12 months earlier and similar to the average layoff rate (0.9%) observed for the corresponding months from 2017 to 2019 (not seasonally adjusted). The layoff rate refers to the proportion of people who became unemployed due to a layoff between July and August.

Industries dependent on U.S. demand for exports continue to face an uncertain economic context, compounded by the recent imposition of new U.S.tariffs on Canadian exports. In the 12 months to August, the layoff rate averaged 0.9% for workers in industries dependent on U.S. demand for exports. In comparison, the rate was 0.7% for other industries over the same period.

The participation rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who were employed or looking for work—fell 0.1 percentage points to 65.0% in August, offsetting a similar-sized increase in July. On a year-over-year basis, the participation rate was little changed.

According to the Bank’s policy statement, “The continuing conflict in the Middle East is keeping energy prices high. New US tariffs and Canadian countermeasures have also been announced following the breakdown of trade talks between Canada and the United States. Both situations remain fluid.”

Overall, the global economy has shown resilience in the face of geopolitical headwinds. With still-high oil prices and elevated margins for refined energy products, inflation remains high in most countries.

Financial conditions have tightened since July. Long-term bond yields have moved up globally, including in Canada. The Canadian dollar has appreciated slightly on US-dollar weakness.

The Canadian economy strengthened considerably in Q2, with growth of 3.3%, while the Q1 figure was revised up to 0.3% from an initial reading of -0.1%. While some of the recent strength reflected temporary factors, the pick-up in activity was broad-based. Consumption showed solid gains. After several weak quarters, housing activity rebounded. Exports and business investment were up sharply. Labour market conditions have improved in recent months, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.4% in July. Still, demand for labour remains subdued, and indicators point to continued excess supply in the economy.

Overall, recent data reaffirm the Governing Council’s view of a broadening recovery in Canada’s economy. However, uncertainty is high and new US tariffs and threats of further action pose risks to the sustainability of the recovery.

CPI inflation has been hovering around 3% in recent months, mainly because of persistently higher gasoline prices. So far, there has been little evidence of higher energy prices spreading to other components of inflation: excluding gasoline, inflation was 2.2%, and core inflation measures remained close to 2% in July. However, with the Middle East conflict still ongoing and little progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, upside risks to the Bank’s inflation forecast have increased. The longer that high oil prices and elevated refinery margins persist, the greater the risk of spillover to the prices of other goods and services. New US tariffs and Canadian counter-tariffs will also raise costs for some businesses and could feed into consumer prices over time.

“Economic growth in Canada has picked up after stalling over the past year. That puts us on a stronger footing as we face new challenges,” Macklem said in the prepared text of opening remarks for his press conference. “But uncertainty about the sustainability of the rebound has increased with new US trade actions.”

With the economy and inflation evolving broadly as forecast in the July MPR, Governing Council agreed to leave the policy rate unchanged. However, the upside risks to inflation have increased, while new tariffs make growth prospects more uncertain. Governing Council will assess the sustainability of the economic rebound and the outlook for inflation, and is prepared to adjust monetary policy as needed. The Bank remains committed to maintaining Canadians’ confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval.