OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s economy posted an unexpectedly large job gain in November, while the jobless rate dropped to a new pandemic low and hours worked returned to pre-pandemic levels, data showed on Friday.
The Canadian economy added a net 153,700 jobs in November, well above analyst expectations of 35,000, while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.0%, beating a consensus estimate of 6.6%, Statistics Canada data showed.
Employment increased in both the services and goods-producing sector, and gains were fairly evenly split between full and part-time work. Total hours worked climbed 0.7%, returning to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
The Canadian dollar was trading 0.4% higher at 1.2760 to the greenback, or 78.37 U.S. cents.
(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Toby Chopra)
