Article content

Canada’s economy is showing unexpected resiliency in the second half of the year despite slumping exports, driven by the strongest job market since the 2008-2009 recession.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or The loonie is on fire as Canada’s jobless rate falls to lowest in decade Back to video

The jobless rate plunged to 5.9 per cent in November as employers added another 79,500 workers during the month, bringing gains over the past 12 months to nearly 400,000, Statistics Canada said Friday from Ottawa.

The Canadian dollar soared on the data, rising more than a cent to 78.67 US cents.

The increased employment is helping to fuel household spending, a separate report showed. Economic growth in the third quarter slowed to an annualized 1.7 per cent on a sharp drop in exports, but the decline was tempered by stronger-than-expected consumption.

The data indicates an expected slowdown for Canada’s economy in coming quarters may be less severe than anticipated, raising the prospect of faster interest rate increases by the Bank of Canada.

“All told, some great numbers on the monthly GDP front and on jobs, which should support the loonie and dent fixed income,” Nick Exarhos, an economist at CIBC Economics, said in a note to investors.

Both the employment gain and jobless figure in November beat the consensus economist forecasts for a 6.2 per cent unemployment rate and 10,000 new jobs. Third-quarter gross domestic product growth was also slightly higher than the 1.6 per cent rate forecast by economists.