Canada Unexpectedly Lost 43,000 Jobs Last Month

Canada's economy lost 30,600 jobs in July, Statistics Canada said Friday.

It's the second month in a row of lost jobs, coming on the heels of 43,000 jobs lost in June. Economists had been expecting the economy to eke out a slight gain of about 15,000 jobs, but instead the employment pool shrank. Goods producing industries actually added about 23,000 jobs during the month, but that relative strength was more than offset by a large loss of 53,000 jobs in the service sector.

The health-care sector was a major drag, as it lost 22,000 positions. After more than two years of caring for Canadians during a pandemic, burnout and job churn in the sector is becoming a major issue.

Job vacancies in health-care sector

More than 10 per cent of all nurses called in sick at least once during the month, and more than 20 per cent worked paid overtime to make up for it, the data agency said.

Nursing vacancies in early 2022 were more than triple the level of five years earlier, Statistics Canada said.