Canada’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.8 per cent last month as more people looked for work in a weak job market, shifting expectations toward a jumbo interest rate cut next week.

Statistics Canada’s November labour force survey says the jobless rate last month reached the highest since January 2017, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate was 6.5 per cent in October.

Meanwhile, the economy added 51,000 jobs in November, with employment gains concentrated in full-time work.