Canada created 26,000 jobs in August but the increase was largely caused by an jump of 57,000 jobs in the public sector. Only 8,000 private sector jobs were created and self-employed ranks fell by 39,000. The unemployment rate rose as expected to 7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in July. It is a mixed picture with elements that brighten the state of the economy somewhat — but not a lot — from July where there was a net loss of 31,200 positions.
