Canada's November job losses biggest in 26 years

TORONTO - Canadian employers slashed nearly 71,000 jobs in November, the worst single month drop in 26 years, in a clear indication the U.S. recession is beginning to wreak havoc on manufacturers and workers in Canada.

Statistics Canada said Friday that the Canadian jobless rate edged up to 6.3 percent in November from 6.2 percent in October despite the fact that 48,000 fewer Canadians were looking for work last month.

"Deteriorating global job markets have arrived on Canada's doorstep such that the country is no longer bucking the general trend of lost jobs in most major economies," said Scotia Capital economist Derek Holt.

While many economists had anticipated that Canada's relatively robust labor market would start showing symptoms of malaise, the consensus expectation was for a 20,000 contraction last month, and even the most pessimistic had projected no more than 50,000.

November's loss of 71,600 cut deeply into the job creation record for the year, bringing the accumulated gain to 133,000, well below last year's 361,000 January-through-November improvement.

"With today's dismal employment report, there is no doubt that the Canadian economy is in recession and the U.S. contraction is accelerating," said BMO Capital Markets chief economist Sherry Cooper.

After years of expansion, the Canadian economy has ground to a halt, with little growth in the first three quarters of this year and decline expected in the current quarter. Falling commodity prices and slumping U.S. housing and auto sectors have dealt a blow to the forestry, mining and manufacturing sectors across Canada.

The news from America was no better, with 533,000 jobs lost last month after contractions of 320,000 jobs in October and 403,000 in September. The U.S. is down 1.9 million jobs since last December.

"The economy has been slowing since December 2007. The real question is whether the economy is in a recession or depression," commented Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland.

The dismal jobs report from Statistics Canada comes a day after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stalled an attempt by the opposition parties to topple his minority government over dissatisfaction he was not doing enough to stimulate the economy.

Harper successfully asked Governor General Michaelle Jean, Canada's unelected representative of the head of state, for the power to close down Parliament until Jan. 26, hoping to buy enough time to develop a stimulus package that could prop up the economy.

A Liberal-NDP coalition, which was formed last week, will get a chance to defeat the Conservatives in late January during a confidence vote on Harper's budget presentation. The coalition has called for billions of dollars in immediate spending on infrastructure and the troubled auto and forestry sectors.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.