Canada announces huge job gains, unemployment rate drops to 6.0%

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Anada’s economy posted an unexpectedly large job gain in November, while the unemployment rate fell to new pandemic lows and working hours returned to pre-pandemic levels, data showed. whether showed on Friday.

The Canadian economy added 153,700 net jobs in November, well above analyst expectations of 35,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.0%, beating consensus estimates. was 6.6%, Statistics Canada data showed.

Employment increased in both the services and manufacturing sectors, and the gains were fairly evenly split between full-time and part-time work. Total hours worked rose 0.7%, returning to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

The Canadian dollar traded 0.4% higher at 1.2760 against the greenback, or 78.37 US cents.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Toby Chopra)