Job Growth Slows to +0.5% in Canada in October

According to Stats Canada the pace of job growth slowed in October as the economy added close to 84,000 (+0.5%) jobs in October compared with 378,000 in September. Self-employment increased for the first time (+1.2%; +33,000) for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people working from home also increased by ~ 150,000. The national unemployment rate was little changed at 8.9% compared with 9% in September. Overall, there were about 1.8 million people out of work in October throughout Canada. The slowdown in employment is being attributed to additional efforts being taken in various provinces to slow the resurgence in the spread the of coronavirus.