Canada Lost a Record 129,000 Jobs in January

Canada lost a record number of jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate to a four-year high of 7.2%.

Employers cut 129,000 workers, three times the loss forecast by economists, after a drop of 20,400 in December.

The Canadian dollar weakened 1.4% to 1.2494 per US dollar.

The economy will contract 1.2% this year and then grow 3.8% in 2010, Canada’s central bank predicts.

Employers reduced full-time employment by 113,900 positions in January, most of them in manufacturing, which lost 101,000 jobs.