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Despite adding 3,800 new jobs in February, the capital region’s economy saw the jobless rate jump to 6.5 per cent from 6.2 per cent in January, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The rate deteriorated thanks a surge of newcomers – an additional 5,400 people entered the labour force, which includes people looking for work. In all, there were 711,700 at work across the region compared to a workforce of 761,300, Statscan estimated. The number of unemployed was 49,600 — up 1,600 from January.

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There was symmetry in some of the job sectors. For example, the number of federal government employees slipped 4,300 in February (to 126,900) while the job total for those in professional services jumped 4,900 (to 62,400).

Workers in the latter category are often doing jobs for federal government departments under contract. The pattern suggests that departments have been hiring contractors to do work on key projects — at least until the new Liberal government signals its intentions about hiring permanent employees.