Canada's unemployment rate rises to 5.4% in June

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in June, marking a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous month.

This is the second uptick in 10 months, as reported by the country's statistical body on Friday.

The country's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5% for five consecutive months before recording in May, the first increase since August 2022.

The most recent unemployment figure came higher than the market expectation of 5.3%.

Overall employment rose in June, with an increase of 60,000, or 0.3%, Statistics Canada said in a statement.

That figure came much higher than the market estimates of a 20,000 increase, after the North American economy saw a decline of 17,000 jobs in May.

The participation rate, which is the proportion of the population that is employed, rose 0.3 percentage points to 65.9% in June.

Average hourly wages, annually, increased by 4.2% in June.