The unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 6.2%, matching the most recent low of October 2008, the month prior to the 2008-2009 labour-market downturn.

An increase in the number of people working part time (+110,000) was mostly offset by a decline in the number of people employed full time (-88,000). While the increase in part-time employment was spread across the age groups, most of the decrease in full-time employment occurred for youth aged 15 to 24. The overall employment decline for youth was accompanied by a notable decrease in their labour force participation.

In the 12 months to August, employment rose by 374,000 (+2.1%), with gains in both full-time (+213,000 or +1.5%) and part-time work (+161,000 or +4.6%). Over this period, the number of hours worked increased by 2.2%.