Weekly earnings rise even as payroll employment dips and vacancies nudge higher
Canada’s average weekly earnings climbed 3.1% in September to $1,317.09, but the positive movement came alongside a drop in payroll employment and the first increase in job vacancies since early last year.
Statistics Canada says that wage growth accelerated from August’s 2.7% gain, but the total number of payroll jobs fell by 58,000 (-0.3%), effectively cancelling out the combined increases seen in July and August. As a result, overall payroll employment has shown little change compared with the same month a year earlier.
Among 20 industry sectors tracked, 11 saw lower employment in September. Education services was hit hardest, losing 19,100 positions (-1.3%), wiping out gains recorded earlier in the summer. Manufacturing also continued its slide, dropping 9,600 jobs (-0.6%) in September and down 36,500 since January 2025. Professional, scientific and technical services posted another decline as well, losing 6,400 jobs (-0.5%) after a modest rebound in July.
Some sectors did buck the broader downturn, including health care and social assistance, as well as arts, entertainment and recreation, which reported employment growth during the month.
Alongside job declines, labour demand showed a slight rebound as job vacancies rose by 25,500 to 486,000, up 5.5% from August and the first monthly growth in vacancies since January 2024. However, vacancies remain 49,700 lower than a year earlier (-9.3%). The national job vacancy rate edged up to 2.7%, still below the 3.0% level seen last September, while the number of unemployed people per available job eased from 3.5 in August to 3.3 in September.
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