Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 94,000 m-o-m in July (or +0.5 percent m-o-m) after an unrevised increase of 230,700 m-o-m in the previous month.

Economists had forecast a gain of 177,500 m-o-m.

Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in July from 7.8 percent in June, slightly missing economists’ forecast for 7.4 percent. This was the lowest rate since March.

According to the report, full-time employment rose by 83,000 (or +0.5 percent m-o-m) in July, while part-time jobs grew by 11,000 (or +0.3 percent m-o-m).

In July, the number of public sector employees fell by 30,500 (or -0.7 percent m-o-m), while the number of private sector employees jumped by 122,700 (or +1.0 percent m-o-m). Meanwhile, the number of self-employed edged up 1,800 (or +0.1 percent m-o-m) last month.

Sector-wise, employment went up in the services-producing sector (+0.6 percent m-o-m) but was little changed in the goods-producing business (0.0 percent m-o-m).