Canadian employers were slashing full-time jobs in October, pushing Canada's overall unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 7.3 per cent, Statistics Canada reports.
The number of people working fell by 54,000 and there were 71,700 fewer full-time jobs in the country.
The decline in full time employment effectively erases a gain of 60,900 jobs the previous month.
"Employment fell in Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, while it increased in Newfoundland and Labrador," stated the report from StatsCan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is in France for G20 meetings on the state of the economy, said he was "disappointed with the numbers and concerned about them."
Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have stressed for months that jobs are the number one priority of the government.
But Harper pinned the blame for these losses on economic troubles overseas. "It's a reflection of the lack of confidence that has been spreading in world markets as a consequence of the European debt crisis," he said.
Most of the October job losses were in manufacturing, followed by losses in the construction sector. Natural resources was the only sector that saw notable gains in October, marking an increase of 12,000 jobs.
In the manufacturing sector, the report said, employment was down 48,000 jobs from the previous month, and was down 2.7 per cent from October 2010.
The construction industry lost 20,000 jobs but still remained 1.4 per cent higher than in October 2010.
Capital Economics issued a response to the employment numbers, saying the data "cruelly dashed any optimism that may have built up after the surprisingly good performance in September."
The statement said Canada's central bank is likely to be keeping a close eye on the numbers.
"We doubt that the Bank of Canada would want to respond just yet with a rate cut, but it won't sit on the sidelines for long if the unemployment rate starts to climb higher," Capital Economics said.
Others say the bad numbers were were just a matter of time. "The mystery to me is why we were creating so many jobs before that," said Don Drummond, a professor at Queens University and an expert on public policy, during an appearance on CTV's Power Play. The strong numbers seen in September "didn't make sense," he said.
"So it's inevitable at some point we were going to get a substantial negative number. Obviously, it's worrying to see a big number like that, but it does make some sense," in part because the jobs losses were concentrated in central Canada, in construction and manufacturing, and thus linked to the weakened U.S. economy, he added.
Professor Mario Seccareccia of the University of Ottawa said that, while inevitable, the job losses mean the government needs to re-examine its financial policies.
"The government should be very concerned about this," he said, "We're pretty much in a recessionary environment right now," similar to that of 2008 and 2009, he said.
A fiscal stimulus package "might be appropriate" said Seccareccia.
Following are some key details from the report:
- Ontario lost 39,000 full-time jobs in October but gained some part-time jobs. The unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 8.1 per cent.
- In B.C., employment fell by 11,000. But the employment rate in the province is still up 0.9 per cent from a year earlier.
- In Quebec the unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 7.7 per cent.
- Nova Scotia lost 3,900 jobs while P.E.I. lost 1,300.
- Newfoundland and Labrador gained 4,100 jobs -- the only province to record notable, stable gains.
In Alberta, employment edged up slightly and unemployment declined 0.3 percentage points to 5.1 per cent.
"Compared with October 2010, Alberta has had the fastest rate of employment growth of all provinces, with an increase of 4.3 per cent," the report said.
With files from The Canadian Press
