Economist PM Mark Carney's big shock - Canada loses 41,000 jobs in July as youth unemployment hits 14-year high

Canada unemployment rate July 2025: Canada's job market faced a sharp blow in July as it lost a net 40,800 jobs during the last month, according to a report by Yahoo Finance citing the most recent figures from Statistics Canada.

Canada's Youth Unemployment at Highest Level Since 2010

As the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9 per cent, the majority of the lost positions were full-time in nature, and the most affected was young Canadians between 15 and 24 years old, whose jobless rate skyrocketed to 14.6%, the highest since September 2010, outside the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, as per the Yahoo Finance report.

Statistics Canada said, "Overall, there has been little net employment growth since the beginning of the year, and the number of employed people in July was little changed compared with January," as quoted in the report.

According to the consensus estimates of financial experts released by CIBC Economics, 15,000 jobs were forecast to be created and the unemployment level was expected to rise 0.1 percentage points to 7%, as reported by Yahoo Finance report.

Statistics Canada' data shows that the Canadian economy added 83,000 jobs, which was above expectations, according to the report.

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Weak Data Supports Case for Interest Rate Cut

CIBC economist Andrew Grantham said that "the Canadian labour market came back down to earth with a bump" and added July's weak data "is supportive for our call of a 25-basis-point interest rate reduction" at the Bank of Canada's next announcement on September 17, according to the report.

However, Grantham also pointed out that there are many more data releases, including inflation data and the August jobs report, that could change the Bank of Canada's outlook, reported Yahoo Finance.

BMO chief economist Douglas Porter described the July data as "unambiguously weak," and highlighted that with labour data for both June and July considered, "the overall picture is a soft economy, running with some excess capacity, not surprising in light of the trade uncertainty," as quoted in the report. He pointed out that, "For the Bank of Canada, this acts as a heavy counterweight to the outsized strength in June, but it will still need to see inflation slow notably over the next two prints for a September cut to be a high likelihood," as quoted by Yahoo Finance.

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Canada's Unemployment Rate Steady, But Participation Falls

While July's unemployment rate remaind the same as June because the number of people looking for work or on temporary layoff was similar to June, but the participation rate, which measures the proportion of people aged 15 and older with a job or actively seeking one, dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 65.2%, according to the report.

Key Sectors Affected: Construction, Culture, Recreation

Indeed Canada senior economist Brendon Bernard highlighted that "Manufacturing jobs were roughly unchanged, [with] the weakness coming from information, culture, and recreation, which had been fairing well recently, as well as construction," as quoted in the Yahoo Finance report. Bernard said that, "Losses were also concentrated in Alberta and BC, while manufacturing-exposed Ontario and Quebec held steadier," as quoted in the report.

He even explained that last month's data show that weak hiring, not layoffs, "remains the primary drag on the employment situation," with "job seekers on the margins of the labour market" in a difficult situation, as quoted by Yahoo Finance.

FAQs

How many jobs did Canada lose in July 2025?
Canada lost 40,800 jobs in July, mostly full-time positions, as per the Yahoo Finance report.

How many jobs did Canada lose in July 2025?
Canada lost 40,800 jobs in July, mostly full-time positions, as per the Yahoo Finance report.