The latest jobs data from Statistics Canada shows that more Canadians are planning to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.

In the August Labour Force Survey, 11.9 per cent of full-time employees said they are thinking about leaving their current job, which is 5.5 per cent higher than January’s data.

Brendon Bernard, senior economist at hiring lab for Indeed.com, said this data could represent Canadians wanting to leave the labour force, but it also includes workers wanting to change jobs.

“I think there's a bit of a catch-up that we'd kind of like expect to see in those numbers, especially given that opportunities have been quite plentiful in the Canadian economy,” Bernard said in an interview Friday.

Bernard added  that the lack of job hopping and quitting over the past year could be one reason why “Canadian wage growth has taken a bit longer to ramp up than it did in the U.S.

“But, if job seekers are starting to be a little more fluid now, that's another factor that could cause some (wage) pressure in the labor market,” Bernard said.

Average hourly wages gained 5.4 per cent compared to the same time a year ago, which

 is up from 5.2 per cent in July.

Bernard said he’s been “expecting stronger wage growth momentum for a while,” but it’s coming at a time where the Bank of Canada is “really doing whatever it can to bring down inflation.”

“I think like there's going to be a bit of a tug of war between the momentum in the headline figures we're seeing and what's going on in pay.”

Statistics Canada reported overall employment levels fell for a third-straight month in August, as the economy shed 39,700 jobs.

The jobless rate climbed 5.4 per cent, from the record low of 4.9 per cent a month ago.