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In terms of job creation, the economy saw its weakest three-month stretch since early 2018. Until the spring pause, Canada had a been on a healthy run of monthly employment gains since last summer.

The survey found the numbers were nearly flat between May and July, a period that saw Canada add an average of 400 jobs per month. The agency cautions, however, that the recent monthly readings have been small enough that they’re within the margin of error and, therefore, statistically insignificant.

Even with the July decline, compared to a year earlier, the numbers show Canada added 353,000 new positions — almost all of which were full time — for an encouraging overall increase of 1.9 per cent.

The July unemployment rate remained near historic lows even after edging up to 5.7 per cent from 5.5 per cent in June. The rate was 5.4 per cent in May, which was its lowest mark since 1976.

Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist for Capital Economics, said the wage data released Friday — along with other recent wage indicators — suggest the measures are finally catching up to the tightened job market.

Brown predicts that even with solid wage numbers at home, the Bank of Canada will likely have to address something much bigger in the coming months: the weakening global economic environment.

“You’re now seeing this strong labour market in terms of the wage numbers, but we know conditions elsewhere in the world are deteriorating — so it’s certainly something interesting for the policy-makers to think about,” he said in an interview.