Canada: Employment increased by 81,000 in August vs. 15,000 expected

• Unemployment rate stays unchanged at 5.7% in August as expected.
• Loonie gathers strength on higher-than-expected rise in number of employed.

The data published by Statistics Canada today revealed that the unemployment rate in Canada stayed unchanged at 5.7% in August as expected. Employment, however, increased by 81,000 to beat the market expectation for a rise of 15,000.

With the initial market reaction, the USD/CAD pair lost nearly 40 pips and was last seen trading at 1.3187, losing 0.3% on the day.

"Compared with August 2018, employment increased by 471,000 (+2.5%), the result of gains in both full- (+306,000 or +2.0%) and part-time work (+165,000 or +4.8%)," Statistics Canada said in its press release. "Over the same period, hours worked were up 1.2%."