OTTAWA — There were 54,000 fewer people working in Canada last month, Statistics Canada said Friday.

That compares to economists’ expectations that 15,000 more people had become employed in October. The unemployment rate grew to 7.3% from 7.1%.

The employment loss almost completely reversed the unexpectedly robust job gain of 60,900 in September.

“Suddenly, the jobs market doesn’t look quite so rosy in Canada,” said CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld. “Canadian employment was weak across the board in October, lending doubt to the big gain recorded in the prior month.”

The Canadian dollar weakened to a session low against its U.S. counterpart on Friday after on the news.

The Canadian dollar fell to 98.33 U.S. cents, nearly a cent lower than Thursday’s North American session close at 99.20 U.S. cents.

Full-time employment was down by 71,700 in October, offset partially by 17,700 more people getting part-time work.

Private-sector employment fell by 32,000 last month, the public-sector job market was down by 3,800, and there were 18,100 fewer people self-employed.

Manufacturing was the weakest sector last month, employing 48,400 fewer people than the previous month. Construction was another hard-hit industry, losing 20,100 people. Natural resources was the only sector seeing notable gains, with 12,100 more people finding work in this area.

Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, had a rough month, losing 38,700 people from the ranks of the employed as its jobless rate rose to 8.1% from 7.6%.

Source: Financial Post