• Prior month +22.1K
• Unemployment rate 6.5% vs 6.7% expected
• Prior month employment rate 6.6%
• Full-time employment +112.0K vs -43.6K prior (largest since May 2022)
• Part-time employment -65.3K vs +65.7K prior
• Participation rate 64.9% vs 65.1% prior
• Average hourly wages y/y 4.5% vs 4.9% last month
• Private sector employment +61K
• Public sector employment -24K

Ahead of the data, the market was pricing in 53% chance that the Bank of Canada will cut rates by 50 bps on October 23. That has risen considerably this week and helped to fuel a big rally in USD/CAD.

Immediately after the data, USD/CAD has fallen 45 pips and the market is re-thinking the BOC decision. The softer participation rate does take some of the shine off the drop in unemployment. The employment-to-population rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 60.7%.

Employment rose among youth aged 15 to 24 (+33,000; +1.2%)
and core-aged women (25 to 54 years old) (+21,000; +0.3%). The largest segment rise was in culture and recreation industry, which rose by 22,000 jobs matching the rise in wholesale and retail trade.