The economy cranked out a slightly better-than-expected number of jobs in September, Statistics Canada said Friday, with the number of workers holding down a job growing by 12,000.
The consensus call from economists was for a gain of 10,000 jobs in the month, and for the unemployment rate to hold steady at 7.0 per cent.
Yet the gains were concentrated in part-time and self-employed work, which saw large increases that more than offset a drop of 62,000 full-time jobs last month, the federal statistical agency said.
“The details weren’t anywhere near as good as the headline employment gain,” David Madani, economist at Capital Economics, said, adding that some job seekers are likely identifying as self-employed rather than out of work.
A rise in the ranks of self-employed is “sometimes a sign of a job market that’s forcing people to hang up their own shingle,” CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld said.
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A rise in the jobless rate, or the percentage of unemployed workers who said they were looking for work, also reflected a job market that weakened in September.
The unemployment rate came in worse than expected, climbing a tenth of a percentage point to 7.1 per cent as more out-of-work people said they were searching for a job.
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