Mixed economic news is being reported for Canada and the Quinte region.
Statistics Canada says the economy lost 42,000 jobs in August, falling short of economists’ expectations for a modest gain and leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.4 per cent.
Economists had been predicting an increase of 15,000 jobs instead.
The drop in employment ended a strong run for the labour market, which added 181,000 jobs from April through July.
There were 20,000 fewer people working in the public sector last month, marking the third straight month of declines.
However, the manufacturing industry, which has been hit hard by U.S. tariffs, proved to be a surprise pocket of strength in August with a gain of 22,000 jobs.
StatCan says the share of people who were unemployed as the result of a layoff is down from a year ago, but that rate is higher in industries reliant on U.S. demand for exports.
The unemployment rate for the Belleville-Quinte West Census Metropolitan Area, which includes Belleville, Quinte West, Deseronto-Tyendinaga and Stirling-Rawdon, also reportedly dropped significantly in August to 5.4 per cent from July’s 6.7.
The Kingston CMA saw a slight decline to 5.5 per cent from 5.7 the month before.
(With files from Canadian Press)
