The Canadian economy lost more than 40,000 jobs in July, sinking the share of people employed to an eight-month low, Statistics Canada reported on Friday, as the labour market gave back substantial gains seen in June.

The unemployment rate, however, remained steady but at a multi-year-high level of 6.9 per cent, the agency said.

The economy shed 40,800 jobs in July against a net addition of 83,000 jobs in June, taking the employment rate — or the percentage of people employed out of the total working-age population — to 60.7 per cent.

The employment rate was the lowest since the pandemic and the loss of jobs was concentrated among permanent employees, Statistics Canada said.