Canada's unemployment rate stayed at a 33-year low in August and wages rose the most in six years, suggesting there's a risk of faster inflation even as central bankers pause amid turmoil in financial markets.

The economy created 23,300 jobs, beating forecasts and keeping the jobless rate at 6 percent for a second month, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa.
Average hourly wages rose 4 percent from a year earlier, the fastest since May 2001.
The figures keep pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates soon to slow inflation to its 2 percent target, as a global credit squeeze passes.
Policymakers Thursday said markets are functioning better, a day after they left the main interest rate at 4.5 percent and said they needed time to study the impact of tighter credit conditions on Canada's growth.
---------Wage figure
“The wage figure just adds to the overall upward price pressure in the Canadian economy and that is something the Bank of Canada can't ignore,” said Charmaine Buskas, senior economics strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. The central bank will probably raise rates in December, she said.
Economists expected 18,000 jobs and no change in unemployment, according to the median of 25 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
Central bankers will see another jobs report on Oct. 5 before their next rate decision, on Oct. 16.
The Canadian dollar fell to 94.86 U.S. cents at 04:03 P.M. in Toronto from 95.06 U.S. cents late Thursday.
Hiring in August was led by 32,800 new education jobs ahead of the school year that started this month, and by 15,500 new construction jobs, Statistics Canada said.
Draxis Health Inc. will hire 80 to 100 workers to handle an expanded contract from Johnson & Johnson, adding to its 500- person payroll, the Montreal-based supplier said Sept. 5.
“A tight labor market means that the September pause by the Bank of Canada is likely to prove just that,” Mark Chandler, a senior fixed-income strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto, wrote in a note to clients. Chandler predicted the bank will raise rates early next year.
Canadian consumer prices rose 2.2 percent in July from a year earlier, staying above the central bank's target for a fifth straight month, Statistics Canada reported Aug. 21.
The core rate -- used by the bank as a guide to future trends because it excludes volatile items such as gasoline -- was 2.3 percent, above the bank's target for an 11th-straight month.
The global credit squeeze and a U.S. housing slump threaten Canada's domestic spending and exports, the central bank said two days ago.
Friday the U.S. Labor Department reported the world's largest economy lost jobs in August for the first time in four years, shedding 4,000 workers. Exports to the U.S. account for almost a third of Canada's economy, according to the country's trade ministry.
(Source: Bloomberg