UPDATE 1-Canada adds whopping 52,100 jobs in September

(Adds details)

* Full-time +44,100, part-time +8,000 * Jobless rate 7.4 pct vs 7.3 pct as more search for work * Expectations: +10,000 jobs, 7.3 pct unemployment rate * Most optimistic forecast in survey was for +28,000 jobs * Seasonally adjusted education jobs -13,600

OTTAWA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - - The Canadian economy added a thumping 52,100 jobs in September, almost all of them full-time, defying expectations and bolstering the Bank of Canada's case for an eventual interest rate rise.

Statistics Canada data released on Friday showed the economy has added an average of 21,600 jobs per month in the past six months. September saw 44,100 new full-time jobs and 8,000 part-time.

The median forecast in a survey of analysts was for 10,000 new jobs, and even the most optimistic forecast was only for 28,000, after August's rise of 34,300. The unemployment rate nonetheless moved to 7.4 percent from 7.3 percent in August as more people participated in the labor market.

All the figures are seasonally adjusted, and Statistics Canada has had difficulty in the past several years adjusting for teachers who leave the work force in the summer and return at the start of the school year. But that did not appear to be an explanation for this September's overall job growth, as "educational services" saw 13,600 fewer positions during the month.

Instead, the new posts in September were predominantly in retail and wholesale trade, construction, the information, culture and recreation sector, utilities and agriculture.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by James Dalgleish)

(([e-mail])([phone])(Reuters

Messaging: [e-mail]))

Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/JOBS