OTTAWA (Reuters)—Canada’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell again and the economy posted solid job gains, data showed on Friday, in signs that joblessness was starting to ease from an eight-year peak, barring the pandemic years, in November.
The January unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, a notch below the 6.7 percent seen in the prior month, and the economy added a net 76,000 jobs, down from a revised 91,000 job added in December but still a robust gain.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast net additions of 25,000 jobs in January and an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.
This was the second month in a row that the unemployment rate, or the number of jobless people as a percentage of the total labor force, declined. However, the total number of unemployed people stayed at a high of 1.5 million and joblessness still continues to be elevated….