Ottawa, March 14 -- Canada's labour market weakened in February as employment fell by 84,000 jobs, pushing the national unemployment rate up to 6.7%, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.

The decline represents a 0.4% drop in employment, while the employment rate - the share of the population aged 15 and older who are working - fell 0.2 percentage points to 60.6%, marking the second consecutive monthly decline.

Employment among youth fell by 47,000 jobs (-1.7%), pushing the youth unemployment rate up 1.3 percentage points to 14.1%, one of the highest levels seen in recent years outside the pandemic period.

Among core-aged men, employment declined by 41,000 jobs (-0.6%), while employment among core-aged women and workers ...