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Canada stuns with biggest job gains in 11 years
By Louise Egan
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economy created a surprising 95,000 jobs in May, the biggest monthly gain in 11 years, and most were full-time positions and in the private sector, Statistics Canada said on Friday in a report showing the economy may be gaining momentum.
The stellar performance handily beat market expectations for a 15,000 gain and came after just 12,500 jobs were generated in April.
The Canadian dollar jumped to its strongest level against the U.S. dollar since mid-May immediately after the data. The currency was trading at C$1.0186 to the greenback, or 98.17 U.S. cents, compared with C$1.0250 just before the jobs report and C$1.0260 at Thursday's North American close.
"Suffice to say, this comes as a surprise. I think that's probably one of the understatements of the year. This is one of the largest monthly increases in employment on record," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
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