The following is excerpted from a 11 March 2011 news release by Reuters Canada.

Canada's economy delivered lackluster job growth in February after robust gains in January, disappointing markets and giving the Bank of Canada plenty of wiggle room before hiking interest rates again.

Statistics Canada said on Friday net employment gains in the month were a modest 15,100, below market forecasts of a 21,000 increase.

The report dashed hopes that hiring momentum in the previous two months would persist. Net job gains were 69,200 in January and 30,400 in December.

The February jobless rate was unchanged at 7.8 percent, versus the 7.7 percent forecasts by analysts in a Reuters poll.

The report knocked the Canadian dollar to a near two-week low and prompted money market and bond traders to scale back rate-hike expectations.

This release is available in its entirety on the Reuters Canada website at:

http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE72A26E20110311

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