Although it may seem odd at first, an RBC economist says both the number of new jobs and the number of people unemployed can rise at the same time. That is the situation in Statistics Canada’s labour report for August.

Assistant Chief Economist for Royal Bank of Canada, Nathan Janzen explains that Canada’s population rose by a record 103,000 in August. Job growth has averaged 31,000 new jobs per month over the last three months, but it’s not enough to keep up with the number of workers. Wage growth is firm, but slightly lower on a year over year basis to 4.9 per cent in August from 5 per cent in July. Janzen says the Bank of Canada will continue to watch wage growth and he believes another interest rate hike could be in our future if inflation doesn’t slow.