Driven by the hot Alberta economy, Canada's unemployment rate for October came in at 6.2 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points from September, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Employment increased by an estimated 51,000 jobs last month following four months of little change.
Full-time employment showed continued strength, jumping by about 68,000 jobs in October, while part-time jobs were down by about 17,000.
Nationally, the unemployment rate for women 25 and over set a record low, dropping to 4.9 per cent, while for adult men it edged down to 5.4 per cent.
Statistics Canada said increases in education, construction, business, building and other support services as well as public administration more than made up for job losses in professional, scientific and technical services and agriculture.
The country's manufacturing sector lost 15,000 jobs in October — the bulk of them in Ontario and Quebec. Over the first 10 months of 2006, losses have totaled 83,000, or down 3.8 per cent across Canada.
More gains in the West, declines in Central Canada
Alberta and Saskatchewan continued to outpace the rest of the country in employment growth.
In Alberta alone, employment for the month increased by 23,000 in October, while the unemployment rate dropped half a percentage point to hit a three-decade low of three per cent.
Saskatchewan added 3,000 jobs to push its jobless rate down 0.4 percentage points to 3.9 per cent, a rate not seen since July 1981. Only Alberta had a lower unemployment rate last month.
Despite continuing losses from its manufacturing sector, which shed 18,000 jobs, Ontario's overall employment rate held steady on gains in the finance, insurance, real estate, leasing and educational services sectors. The unemployment rate declined to 6.4 per cent as fewer people looked for work.
"Growing regional and sectoral differences should be cause for concern and government action," Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti said in a statement.
"Resource booms come and go, and this one will not last forever," he said, urging that Canada do more to help the "very hard-hit" manufacturing sector.
Interest rate direction
In the wake of the jobs report, some economists said the Bank of Canada will likely be discouraged from cutting interest rates.
"The strong job growth in October should underpin consumer spending and the economy in the fourth quarter of this year. It will also discourage the Bank of Canada from cutting interest rates," said Bank of Montreal senior economist Sal Guatieri.
Ted Carmichael, an economist at JP Morgan Canada, believes the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in both March and the third quarter of 2007 to take the overnight policy rate up to 5.25 per cent next September and leave it there.
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