Hamilton has lost 13,000 jobs over the past year.

The most recent Labour Force Survey numbers from Statistics Canada show the number of people working in the Hamilton region plunged from 392,200 in July 2015 to 378,300 last month.

That sharp decline pushed the local unemployment rate up to 6.1 per cent from 5.4 per cent last year.

In human terms, that means the number of people counted as officially unemployed in the region is up by more than 11 per cent to 24,800 from 22,300 over the same period.

The July numbers mark the third straight monthly decline in employment.

Across Canada, the market lost 31,200 net jobs in July, an unexpectedly steep decline that included the biggest one-month drop in full-time work in nearly five years.

On trade, the fresh figures showed Canada's deficit with the world — the balance between imports and exports — ballooned to a record level of $3.6 billion in June.

"The overall story here is the Canadian economy is barely growing," BMO chief economist Doug Porter said Friday.

"And the drag on the economy is in the export sector, the one area of the economy where I think there were very high hopes. We're basically still incredibly dependent on consumer spending and housing to keep pulling the economy along."

Combined, Porter said the disappointing jobs and trade numbers increase the likelihood that the Bank of Canada will decrease its already-low benchmark interest rate before the end of the year to help boost the economy.

After Friday's releases, Porter said he thinks the chances of a rate cut before January are 25 per cent, up from 10 per cent.

Looking at the labour data, Statistics Canada's survey found the national unemployment rate for July crept up to 6.9 per cent from 6.8 per cent the previous month.

-- with files from Canadian Press