OTTAWA — Statistics Canada has surprised economists and tossed a wild card into the federal election campaign, reporting that the Canadian economy generated a record 107,000 new jobs in September.

The massive number was totally unexpected, as analysts were expecting a modest pick-up in the 12,500 range.
However, almost all of the new jobs — 97,000 — were part-time.

Last month’s overall jump was the largest since the agency began collecting the data more than 30 years ago.
The previous record month was January 2002, when 97,000 jobs were added.

Despite the increase, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.1 per cent, as there were 113,700 more Canadians actively looking for work in the month.

With most economists judging the economy is in or near a recession, the September increase may be seen as a correction of the 55,000 lost jobs in July, which also threw economists for a loop.

“This survey was conducted in the middle of September, just as the financial turmoil began to gather serious momentum — so even this relatively timely report may be largely viewed as `old news,”’ commented BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter.

“Still, this report drums home the point that the Canadian domestic economy carried much firmer momentum heading into the storm than many other nations.”

Statistics Canada concedes its survey of 53,000 households has an error factor of plus or minus 43,500 jobs from the 107,000 number.

Geoff Bowlby, the agency’s director of labour statistics, said the September findings were double-checked because of the outsized employment growth.

“We’re very confident in the number,” he said. “This is well outside the statistical error range.”

Even allowing for sampling error, the job market has been far stronger in Canada than in the U.S., which has lost about 800,000 jobs so far this year.

Canada’s economy has added 193,800 workers in 2008, a slower pace than last year but still impressive given weak economic growth.

The tight labour market was reflected in a 4.6 per cent year-over-year increase in hourly wages.

The September employment report is surprising in a number of areas, including large job creation in Ontario and Quebec, at the centre of the slowdown in the manufacturing sector.

Statistics Canada says Ontario gained 52,000 jobs in September, while Quebec added 32,000, as the month saw a surprising pickup of 19,700 factory jobs.

Alberta added 17,000 jobs.

The agency said employment increased across a number of industries, including health care and social assistance (40,000); business, building and other support services (20,000); agriculture (15,000); construction (14,000); and natural resources (6,700).
Losses came in accommodation and food services (down 16,000) and utilities ( down 9,300).