Economy Lost 2,800 Jobs in July, Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 6.4%

Students are facing a particularly challenging summer job market while recent immigrants are disproportionately affected by weakening labour market conditions in the country, Statistics Canada’s latest employment figures show. The federal agency’s July labour force survey released on Friday says the overall jobless rate held steady at 6.4 percent last month as the economy shed a modest 2,800 jobs. Amidst historically high interest rates, the unemployment rate has climbed 0.9 percentage points over the last year. The latest data suggests young people and recent immigrants, however, have been among the most affected by the deteriorating conditions. Of the students between the ages of 15 and 24 returning to school in the fall, 51.3 percent of them were employed last month, down a staggering 6.8 percentage points from a year ago....