Monday, November 9, 2026 Editions
ENESNEHIFR
Latest
G7 Foreign Ministers Meet in Paris With Ukraine and Iran at the Top of the AgendaWMO Says the World Has Entered a New Age of Climate Extremes as COP31 OpensMexico Arrests Alleged Jalisco Cartel Cell Leader in Zapopan Operation Aided by DEA IntelligenceG7 Foreign Ministers Meet in Paris With Ukraine and Iran at the Top of the AgendaWMO Says the World Has Entered a New Age of Climate Extremes as COP31 OpensMexico Arrests Alleged Jalisco Cartel Cell Leader in Zapopan Operation Aided by DEA Intelligence
Trending
Business

Canada Loses 4,700 Jobs in October as Unemployment Rises to 6.7%, a Six-Month High

Full-time and private sector losses drove the October decline, economists had expected a gain, and youth unemployment climbed to 13.7%.

By Orbit Post2 min read
Read inENESNEHIFR
Canada Loses 4,700 Jobs in October as Unemployment Rises to 6.7%, a Six-Month High

Key points

  • Canada lost a net 4,700 jobs in October and the unemployment rate rose to 6.7%, Statistics Canada said on Friday, November 6.
  • The result missed what economists expected by a wide margin.
  • All of the job losses were concentrated in full-time employment, which fell by 18,100.

Canada lost a net 4,700 jobs in October and the unemployment rate rose to 6.7%, Statistics Canada said on Friday, November 6. The rate was up from 6.5% in September and is a six-month high. The last higher reading was 6.9% in April.

The result missed what economists expected by a wide margin. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a gain of 13,600 jobs and an unchanged unemployment rate of 6.5%. Instead, the economy lost jobs for another month, taking total jobs lost this year to 46,000.

Full-time and private sector jobs fell hardest

All of the job losses were concentrated in full-time employment, which fell by 18,100. Private sector employees fell by 52,500, the first decline in the private sector since February.

Wholesale and retail trade lost 28,800 jobs, the biggest decline of any sector in October. Transportation and warehousing fell by 10,100. Construction moved the other way and added 16,000 jobs.

September had already been a hard month. The economy lost 68,300 jobs that month, so October's smaller loss is a slower decline, not a recovery.

Young workers felt it most

The youth unemployment rate, for people aged 15 to 24, rose 0.7 percentage points to 13.7%. The rate for people aged 55 and older rose to 5.5%.

Wage growth cooled. Average hourly wages for permanent employees grew 2.0% year on year in October, down from 2.3% in September.

On an average monthly basis, the Canadian economy has lost 4,590 jobs so far this year. That compares with an average monthly gain of 17,606 jobs in 2025 and 33,675 in 2024, which shows how sharply hiring has turned.

Statistics Canada also said more than one in four Canadians aged 15 and older found it difficult to meet financial needs for transportation, housing, food, clothing and other necessary expenses over the previous four weeks.

More people were looking for work

The ranks of job seekers grew even as the number of jobs shrank. Retail Insider, reporting the same Statistics Canada release, said the number of people searching for work rose by 33,000 in October. The employment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 60.5%, its third monthly decline in a row. Of the 1.5 million people unemployed in October, 23.7% had been searching for work for at least 27 weeks, close to half a year without finding a job.

Retail Insider, reporting the same Statistics Canada release, also put the October loss at 4,700 jobs and the unemployment rate at 6.7%.

Timeline

  1. Apr 2026Canada's unemployment rate last stood higher than October's reading, at 6.9%.
  2. Nov 6, 2026Statistics Canada reported a net loss of 4,700 jobs in October and an unemployment rate of 6.7%.

Sources