(Bloomberg) — The Canadian labor market unexpectedly lost jobs for the second time in four months, keeping the central bank on track to further cut rates this year.
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The country shed 1,400 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.4%, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. Economists had expected the job market to look stronger, with a gain of 25,000 positions and a jobless rate of 6.3%, according to the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
The numbers point to further loosening of the labor market, which should help gradually cool wages that remain stubbornly high — wage growth for permanent employees accelerated to 5.6% in June, beating expectations. Despite elevated compensation increases, the softer labor market makes conditions more favorable for the Bank of Canada to reduce its policy rate again in the coming months.
The data were released at the same time as US…
