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Ontario lost more than 80,000 net jobs last month – a recession-like statistic – and the Tory government blames the Liberals.

Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey released Friday shows while there was a slight increase in full-time positions in August over the previous month, the province was down almost 81,000 part-time positions over that same time period.

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The number of part-time jobs decreased by 93,000 over a one-year period ending in August.

Statistics Canada suggested that such a drop in part-time employment “in general” can occur when employees move to full-time work, younger or older workers move in and out of the labour force, or when an industry with a lot of part-time positions undergoes change.

Economic Development Minister Jim Wilson said the province experienced 15 years of waste, scandal and mismanagement when managed by the Ontario Liberals.

“Under the (Kathleen) Wynne Liberals, job creation, economic growth and investment stagnated,” Wilson said in a statement. “While the NDP stood by and propped up the Liberals, the PCs stood up for the people and put forward a plan to get Ontario back on track. We will create and protect jobs by sending the message that ‘Ontario is Open for Business.’”