Canada Posts Surprise Small Gain in December Jobs as Unemployment Rate Rises More Than Expected With More People Looking for Work

08:47 AM EST, 01/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Canada gained 8,200 jobs, or a flat monthly change, in December and the employment rate held steady at 60.9%, said the country's statistical agency on Friday.

The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage point to 6.8%, as more people searched for work, noted Statistics Canada in its Labour Force Survey (LFS) statement.

December's job gains were better than the 1,800 consensus loss figure provided by MUFG. The unemployment rate was worse than the 6.7% consensus rate.

Employment rose among people aged 55 and older (up 33,000; 0.8% month over month), while it fell among youth aged 15 to 24 (down 27,000; -1.0% month over month), pointed out StatsCan.

There were more people working in health care and social assistance (+21,000; +0.7% month over month) as well as in 'other services' such as personal and repair services (+15,000; +2.0%). At the same time, fewer people were employed in professional, scientific and technical services (-18,000; -0.9%), accommodation and food services (-12,000; -1.0%), and utilities (-5,300; -3.0%).

Average hourly wages among employees increased 3.4% (+$1.23 to $37.06) on a year-over-year basis in December, following growth of 3.6% in November -- not seasonally adjusted, added the Ottawa-based agency.

The monthly LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. As a result, monthly estimates will show more variability than trends observed over longer time periods. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. LFS estimates at the Canada level do not include the territories.

The LFS estimates are the first in a series of labor market indicators released by StatsCan, which includes indicators from programs such as the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH); Employment Insurance Statistics; and the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.

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