Canada

The Canadian economy added a surprising 67,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.9 per cent, Statistics Canada said on Friday, beating economists' expectations for the month.

While the majority of the jobs gained in October were part-time positions, "that doesn't do much to detract" from the strong headline number, wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.

Both full-time and part-time work were up on a yearly basis. By sector, the influx of work was driven by wholesale and retail trade — which added 41,000 jobs — as well as transportation and warehousing, information, culture and recreation, and utilities.