OTTAWA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Canada's unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage points to 6 percent in November, according to Statistics Canada on Friday.

That's the lowest jobless rate since the COVID-19 pandemic began in Canada. Before the pandemic in February 2020, Canada had a jobless rate of 5.7 percent. It topped out at 13.7 percent in May of that year, before sliding steadily lower.

The data agency calculates that more than 19.3 million people in Canada had a job last month. That's 186,000 more than the pre-pandemic level.

Total unemployment fell to 1.24 million but remained 98,000 more than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level in February 2020.

Statistics Canada said the jobless rate would have been 7.8 percent in November had it included Canadians who wanted to work but didn't search for a job, down from 8.7 percent in October.

The number of Canadians unemployed for 27 weeks or more decreased 62,000, down 16.2 percent, the first monthly decline in long-term unemployment since August 2021.

Statistics Canada said the decline in long-term unemployed was particularly sharp for Canadians who had been out of work for a year or more.

It also said that total hours worked returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time in November, following a stretch where some workers had seen their hours cut.

With unemployment declining and job vacancies ticking upwards, Statistics Canada pointed out that signs point to new or worsening labor shortages or skill mismatches. Enditem

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