**UNSPLASH/Jason Goodman**
**Canada added 47,000 jobs in September, versus a consensus estimate for 27,000**

The outlook for Canada’s labour market unexpectedly brightened in September after the country added more jobs than expected and the unemployment rate fell.

The country added 47,000 new jobs, versus a consensus estimate of 27,000, and the unemployment rate dropped for the first time since January, the agency said Friday. Full time positions jumped by 112,000, the most on record outside the pandemic.

The improving labour picture, along with the recent moderation in inflation pressure, gives the Bank of Canada some leeway at its rate decision later this month.

“Today's surprisingly sturdy employment picture sends a strong vote for a more modest 25 bp rate cut by the BoC at this month's decision, versus the recent growing calls for a 50 bp response,” Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter wrote in a note. “With jobs delivering at least a one-month wonder of strength—and offering a tantalizing glimmer of hope that the economy may be pulling out of its funk—the case for an even more aggressive BoC just took a big step back.”

Porter said the fact that average hourly earnings dropped to a 4.6 per cent year-over-year pace, from 5 per cent earlier, will give the central bank some relief. He also pointed out there were some “flashes of softness,” such as the estimate for total hours worked, which fell 0.4 per cent on the month, and is at odds with the spike in full-time jobs.