09:05 AM EDT, 09/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's payroll survey of employment (SEPH) showed a 21,600 increase in jobs for July, but that follows a string of weak readings and still leaves the level of employment a little below January's level, said CIBC after Thursday's data.

Hiring in July was concentrated in six of 20 sectors, led by health/social assistance (+15,000), and finance/insurance (+8,700,), which offset declines in five sectors including manufacturing and construction.

Job vacancies fell by 4.2%, leaving them 15% below year-ago levels, with the ratio of unemployment-to-job vacancies rising to the highest level seen since 2017 (excluding pandemic years).

Elevated labor market slack was apparent in the deceleration in the fixed-weight wages measure to 2.7% year over year, the lowest reading since early 2024, stated the bank.

Given that this employment print follows a string of weak readings this year, it leaves employment up by only 0.3% y/year over year, in comparison with 1.4% for the more timely Labour Force Survey (LFS) measure (excluding self-employment), which is likely being flattered by lags in population growth in that series.

Thursday's report still suggests a weak labor market, with hiring contained to a few industries and labor demand weakening.