OTTAWA—Canada’s economy added nearly four times the number of jobs forecasted for December and the unemployment rate surprisingly ticked down to 6.7 percent, data showed on Friday, giving the central bank breathing room to determine the pace of further rate cuts.
The economy added a net 90,900 jobs last month, with almost two-thirds coming from full-time work, according to Statistics Canada. The job gains—third time in the past four months—were spread across several industries, the agency said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a net gain of 25,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate would rise to 6.9 percent from the near eight year high of 6.8 percent in November. In December, the unemployment rate fell for core-aged men and for men aged 55 and older….