Canada’s Second Monthly Job Surprise Reverses Recent Decline (3)

The Canadian economy added 66,600 jobs in October, marking a second consecutive month of surprise employment gains as tariffs otherwise slow down economic activity.

The gains were driven by part-time positions, with growth in wholesale and retail trade, transportation and warehousing and information, culture and recreation. The employment increase helped bring down the jobless rate to 6.9%, Statistics Canada’s labor force survey showed on Friday.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady at 7.1%, and for the economy to shed a modest 5,000 jobs.

The Canadian labor market also surprised to the upside in September, ...