Article content
OTTAWA — Canada added 378,200 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 9.0 per cent, handily beating analyst expectations, as children returned to school and the economy continued to reopen from coronavirus shutdowns, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted a gain of 156,600 jobs and for the unemployment rate to fall to 9.7 per cent from 10.2 per cent in August.
The gain brought employment to within 720,000 of its pre-pandemic level, Statscan said.
“It’s a good number. It’s very encouraging that we didn’t decelerate in September,” said Andrew Kelvin, chief Canada strategist at TD Securities.
The Canadian dollar strengthened to a three-week high of 76.15 U.S. cents.
Full-time employment rose by 334,000 and compared with 44,200 new part-time positions. Employment in the goods-producing sector grew by 75,100 jobs, while the services sector grew by 303,100 positions.