Employment rose by 154,000 (+0.8%) in November and was 186,000 (+1.0%) higher than its pre-COVID February 2020 level. The unemployment rate fell to 6.0%, within 0.3 percentage points of what it was in February 2020. Employment increased in both the services-producing and goods-producing sectors in November. Both full-time (+80,000; +0.5%) and part-time (+74,000; +2.1%) work increased, and employment gains were spread across six provinces. Total hours worked increased 0.7% and returned to the pre-pandemic February 2020 level for the first time. Hours rose across most industries, led by manufacturing, wholesale and ... (full story)