The unemployment rate in Canada clocked in at 6.6% in January, declining by 0.1 percentage points compared to the month before, data by Statistics Canada showed on Friday.

The modest decline in the unemployment rate was driven by the fall in the rate of unemployed individuals aged 15 to 24, which contracted 0.6 percentage points to 13.6%. The total number of unemployed people stood at 1.5 million in January, jumping by 20.2% compared to the corresponding month last year.

The employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 61.1% in January, with most job additions registered in the manufacturing sector which saw an increase of 1.8% of hired people. The average hourly wages increased by 3.5% year-over-year, climbing by 1.23 Canadian dollars to 35.99 Canadian dollars.