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Record job creation keeps unemployment rate steady  
Updated Fri. Oct. 10 2008 12:57 PM ET  
 
CTV.ca News Staff  
 
The Canadian economy surpassed employment forecasts and smashed a previous monthly job creation record by generating 107,000 new jobs in September, Statistics Canada reported Friday.  
 
However, 97,000 of the new jobs are part-time.  
 
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the massive number - which dwarfed projections of about 13,000 new jobs - is proof that his government's economic policies are sound and that the economy is on the right track.  
 
"When I say that notwithstanding the challenges our fundamentals are strong, let me repeat we've had GDP (gross domestic product) numbers up dramatically, we've had employment numbers up dramatically," Harper told supporters at a campaign stop in Brantford, Ont.  
 
The previous one-month record was in January of 2002 when 97,000 jobs were created.  
 
The statistics also mark the biggest job jump since the agency began collecting employment creation information more than 30 years ago.  
 
Still, the country's unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 per cent and Statistics Canada noted that the manufacturing sector is down a total of 342,000 jobs since 2002.  
 
While Harper has remained optimistic that the country's economic engine is running smoothly in the midst of a global financial crisis, others said that the numbers are misleading.  
 
"This economy is represented by a surge in part-time jobs to the detriment of full-time employment, especially in the industrial sector," said Ken Lewenza, national president of the Canadian Auto Workers.  
 
"While the Conservative government may boast about job creation, these part-time jobs do little to replace the 167,000 family-supporting manufacturing jobs lost since they took office."  
 
Lewenza added that Canadians are being forced to take several part-time jobs just to make ends, meaning many families lack financial stability and health benefits.  
 
That opinion was echoed by CIBC World Markets economist Avery Shenfeld.  
 
"It seems like everyone has a paper route these days," he told The Canadian Press.  
 
"How else to explain how Canada created 97,000 part- time jobs in a single month, during a period of severe economic strain across the country?"  
 
Ontario saw the biggest employment increase with 52,000 net new jobs, followed by Quebec with 32,000 and Alberta with 17,000. Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia also posted modest gains in employment.  
 
The record September gives 2008 a net increase of 194,000 jobs and comes on the heels of a slight rise in August of 15,000 jobs and a downturn of 55,000 jobs in July  
 
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the new statistics are the result of Conservative policies like tax cuts, and he added that the International Monetary Fund projects that Canada will lead the G-7 countries in growth over the next year.  
 
While growth is projected at 1.2 per cent, Flaherty conceded that the economy is still facing difficulties.  
 
"We have to do everything we can to make sure Canadians are not buffeted by the credit market crisis."  
 
BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter said in a release that the numbers may be considered "old news" as they were compiled before the current world financial crisis, but they are relevant nonetheless.  
 
"This survey was conducted in the middle of September, just as the financial turmoil began to gather serious momentum - so even this relatively timely report may be largely viewed as 'old news,'" Porter said.  
 
"Still, this report drums home the point that the Canadian domestic economy carried much firmer momentum heading into the storm than many other nations."  
 
Geoff Bowlby, Statistics Canada's director of labour statistics, told The Canadian Press that the September numbers were double-checked because of the outsized employment growth.  
 
"We're very confident in the number," he said. "This is well outside the statistical error range."  
 
The report said a number of industries were responsible for the gains, including health care and social assistance (40,000): business, building and other support services (20,000): agriculture (15,000): construction (14,000): and natural resources (6,700).  
 
Meanwhile, accommodation and food services (-16,000) and utilities (-9,300) faced the biggest losses.