OTTAWA—Canada added lower-than-expected 14,500 jobs in October and wages of permanent employees rose, data showed on Friday, as the economy grappled to absorb the slack built up due to a rapidly rising population amid an overheated market.
The unemployment rate stayed unchanged from September but hovered around a 34-month high of 6.5 percent, Statistics Canada said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated a net addition of 25,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to edge up to 6.6 percent.
Canada’s business investment and hiring has been muted even after four rounds of rate cuts as high interest rates and inflation have throttled demand, even as the labor force has continued to grow, fueled by record immigration….