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Canada's job market and pay: what the figures show to the end of summer 2026

Canada's unemployment rate was 6.5% in September 2026, and average weekly earnings in August 2026 were 3.68% higher than a year earlier.

Published 2 min read

  • 2026-066.5%
  • 2026-076.4%
  • 2026-086.4%
  • 2026-096.5%
Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) · Statistics Canada

Canada Unemployment rate →

What the latest figures show

Canada's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.5% in September 2026. That is the share of people in the labour force who were looking for work and did not have a job.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

On pay, average weekly earnings in August 2026 were 3.68% higher than in August 2025. This is a 12-month change, not a change from the month before.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

Month by month: jobs and earnings

The unemployment rate stayed in a narrow range over the summer. It was 6.5% in June 2026, 6.4% in July, 6.4% in August and 6.5% in September. All four readings are seasonally adjusted monthly rates.

Sources for this paragraph (4)

Earnings growth moved around more. Measured as the 12-month change in average weekly earnings, it was 3.33% in May 2026, 3.39% in June, 3.2% in July and 3.68% in August.

Sources for this paragraph (4)

How the summer compares with itself

September's unemployment rate of 6.5% matched June's. It was slightly higher than the 6.4% recorded in both July and August.

Sources for this paragraph (4)

Earnings growth dipped in July to 3.2%, then rose in August to 3.68%. August's reading was the highest of the four months available, above the 3.33% of May and the 3.39% of June.

Sources for this paragraph (4)

What this means for people living in Canada

For job seekers, the national unemployment rate in September 2026 was at the same level as in June. The figures describe the country as a whole. They do not show how hard it is to find work in a particular city, industry or age group.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

For people with a paycheque, the August 2026 figure says that average weekly earnings were 3.68% higher than a year before. An average can rise even when many individual workers see no raise, so this number does not tell any one household what happened to its own pay.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

Prices are tracked by separate measures. Consumer price inflation was 3.09% over 12 months in September 2026. This analysis does not set it against the earnings figure, because the two come from different statistics and cover different months.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What the data does not tell us

The latest earnings figure is for August 2026, one month behind the latest unemployment rate for September 2026. The earnings figures are averages and do not show the spread of pay between higher and lower earners.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

There is also an annual unemployment figure for 2025 of 6.91%. It is an ILO modelled estimate, measured differently from the monthly seasonally adjusted rate, so the two should not be read as a rise or fall from one to the other.

Sources for this paragraph (2)
  • C19 Canada Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate) · 6.91% · 2025 · World Bank
  • F4 Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) · 6.5% · 2026-09 · Statistics Canada

The facts here do not explain why unemployment or earnings moved as they did. They show the direction, not the cause.

Sources for this paragraph (4)

Scenarios to watch

  • Scenario, not a forecast If the next monthly readings stay within the range seen from June to September 2026, the unemployment rate would point to a job market holding steady rather than turning sharply.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If the September earnings figure stays close to August's level, the jump in August would look less like a one-month swing like the dip seen in July.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If the unemployment rate moves outside the range of the past four months in either direction, that would be the first clear change in the job market since June 2026.

What to check next

  • The October 2026 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, set against September's 6.5%
  • The September 2026 12-month change in average weekly earnings, set against August's 3.68%
  • Whether earnings growth repeats the July dip or holds at the August level
  • Regional and industry breakdowns, which the national figures here do not include

Verified data used in this report

IndicatorValuePeriodSourcesAccessed
F1Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)6.5%2026-06Statistics Canada
F2Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)6.4%2026-07Statistics Canada
F3Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)6.4%2026-08Statistics Canada
F4Canada unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)6.5%2026-09Statistics Canada
F5Canada average weekly earnings (12-month change)3.33%2026-05Statistics Canada
F6Canada average weekly earnings (12-month change)3.39%2026-06Statistics Canada
F7Canada average weekly earnings (12-month change)3.2%2026-07Statistics Canada
F8Canada average weekly earnings (12-month change)3.68%2026-08Statistics Canada
C11Canada consumer price inflation (12-month change)3.09%2026-09Statistics Canada
C12Canada food price inflation (12-month change)2.18%2026-09Statistics Canada
C13Canada new housing price index (12-month change)-2.04%2026-09Statistics Canada
C14Canada central bank policy rate (month-end)2.25%2026-09Bank of Canada
C15Canada shelter prices (CPI, 12-month change)1.75%2026-09Statistics Canada
C18Canada GDP growth (annual %)1.74%2025World Bank
C19Canada Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate)6.91%2025World Bank
C20Canada Fertility rate, total (births per woman)1.252024World Bank
C21Canada Population aged 65 and above (% of total population)20.26%2025World Bank
C22Canada Population growth (annual %)0.94%2025World Bank

Sources

  • Source: Statistics Canada. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada — license
  • Source: Bank of Canada — license
  • Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) — license

How this report was checked

  • Data: the newest reference period cited is 2026-09.
  • Figures were collected from the source on
  • Written by an AI model (claude-opus-5-5) using only the official figures listed in this report.
  • Automatic checks passed: every number matches a cited figure, every paragraph names its evidence, and there is no investment advice or copied source text.
  • A separate quality-check model found no unsupported or speculative sentences.
  • No person reviewed this report before publication. Automatic checks confirm the numbers, not every interpretation.
Update history
  • 2026-10-30 15:02 UTC — created
  • 2026-10-30 15:02 UTC — approved+published

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