Stats Canada says the national unemployment rate went up by half a percentage point in August to 5.4%.
The federal agency says the economy lost 40,000 jobs last month.
Meanwhile, Cape Breton’s unemployment rate for August was 9.1 percent.
That’s down from 9.8% in July and 11.8 percent in August of last year.
Nova Scotia’s jobless rate was 6.8 percent in August.