Unemployment rate ticks up to 5.4 per cent in August as economy loses 40K jobs

The number of people looking for work across Canada climbed by half a percentage point last month to 5.4 per cent, but the jobless rate in BC barely budged.

Statistics Canada says unemployment in this province was 4.8 per cent in August, up one tenth of a point from July, and the second lowest rate in the country after Quebec.

StatsCan blames the hike in the national jobless numbers on losses in the education services and construction sectors, although it says those declines were offset by more jobs in professional, scientific and technical services.

Unemployment in Vancouver and Kelowna was steady between July and August but jumped to 5.8 per cent in Abbotsford, up almost one full per cent, while also climbing by just over half a per cent in Victoria to 4.9 per cent.