B.C. hit hard with Canada’s largest job loss

OTTAWA — Canada’s recent strong jobs performance slowed to a crawl in October, as the economy managed a meagre 1,800 new jobs, not enough to nudge the unemployment rate off 7.4 per cent.

Regionally, the biggest loss came in B.C., which reported 10,900 fewer job last month. In contrast, the biggest gain was in Quebec, which saw 20,100 jobs added.

There were some notable swings in provincial unemployment rates, mostly due to the distribution of the 18,000 additional Canadians who were looking for work in October, as opposed to job gains or losses.

The unemployment rate rose by more than half a point in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Manitoba, while there were marginal 0.3 percentage points drops in the rate in Quebec and B.C. to 7.7 and 6.7 per cent, respectively.

Statistics Canada said the biggest loss last month came in agriculture, which shed about 16,000 workers, while the biggest gain was in education services, which added 16,200. There was little change in the key industries of manufacturing, construction and natural resources.

The economy’s goods-producing industries lost 19,300 jobs, while the services sector added 21,000.

But it was the surprisingly strong number south of the border that impressed markets and economists, with the U.S. reporting an aboveconsensus 171,000 additional jobs, all in the private sector. As well, employment for September and August were revised upwards.

“The big story today is the U.S. job numbers, which generally were better than expected,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.

“We’re not pounding the ground on this one, but between the upturn in the housing sector in the U.S. and somewhat better jobs picture, there are more grounds for optimism and that will spill into Canada.”