08:54 AM EDT, 08/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian employment remained in a stall during July, with the slight 3,000 decline in jobs coming in weaker than the consensus expectation of 25,000 gains and following a similar result in June, said CIBC.

While the unemployment rate held steady at 6.4%, that was only because of a three-tick decline in participation from 65.3% to 65.0%, meaning that the employment rate continued to fall, pointed out the bank.

Statistics Canada Friday noted that the participation rate for young people has declined, suggesting some have been discouraged by the lack of job prospects.

The details of the jobs count were largely "mixed," with a favorable split between full-time (+62,000) and part-time (-64,000), but a sharp decline in private sector employees, stated the bank.

The leaning of jobs towards full-time meant that hours worked (+1.0%) rose sharply in a positive sign for July's gross domestic product (GDP), added CIBC.

Wage growth for permanent employees decelerated from 5.6% to 5.2% year-over-year, although this wasn't as much as had been anticipated as the consensus was for 4.8% and largely reflected base effects, according to the bank.

The minutes from last month's Bank of Canada (BoC) policy decision highlighted growing concern regarding the state of the labor market, and Friday's data will do little to ease those concerns even with the jobless rate holding steady.

CIBC sees the Bank of Canada (BoC) cutting interest rates by 25bps in each of the three remaining policy decisions this year.