Canada payrolls fell 68.3k in September, well above expectations, erasing
earlier year-to-date employment gains, Statistics Canada said. The unemployment
rate rose to 6.5% from 6.4%. Losses were concentrated in the public sector
(–70k), led by education (–35.3k) and health and social assistance (–23.1k);
manufacturing fell 12.7k. Since December 2025 total employment is down 41k, with
the past two months down 110k. Labor force participation declined 0.2 ppt to
64.8%, the lowest since December 1997 excluding 2020; Statistics Canada largely
attributed the drop to population aging.
