OTTAWA - The labour market surprised economists again in November with a third straight month of job gains.

Statistics Canada said Friday that the economy added 54,000 new positions last month compared with economists’ expectations for a small loss.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 per cent in November, down from 6.9 per cent in October, marking a second consecutive monthly decline. StatCan said there were 26,000 fewer people in the labour market last month, pushing the jobless rate lower.

The economy added 181,000 jobs from September through November. Before then, labour market activity had been relatively cool since January as employers grappled with U.S. tariff uncertainty.

Most of November’s job gain was concentrated in part-time work, StatCan said. The agency noted the rate of pe

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