The unemployment rate in Newfoundland and Labrador has dropped by half a percentage point.

The jobless rate in September stood at 10.6 per cent, but that dipped to 10.1 last month according to Statistics Canada. Unemployment in the metro region rose by a half percentage point.

Nationally, the country gained almost 70,000 jobs in October, so the unemployment went down two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent while the average hourly wage was up 3.5 per cent annually.

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 fell by 0.6 percentage points to 14.1 in October, coinciding with an increase in employment for this group. This was the first decline in the youth unemployment rate since February. The rate had been on an upward trend from the beginning of 2023, reaching a 15-year high in September 2025

The rate also fell for people aged 55 and older in October.