Does anyone find it interesting that Canada lost twice as many jobs as the U.S. per capita? Perhaps the U.S. job report is inaccurate or massaged, as some suggest, or maybe Canada is in worse shape than previously reported. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123397120060659369.html By NIRMALA MENON OTTAWA -- Canada posted its worst monthly decline in jobs in January, as the recession buffeted a swath of sectors and took a heavy toll on manufacturing. A total of 129,000 jobs were eliminated, surpassing the monthly declines during recessions in the 1980s and 1990s, the government agency Statistics Canada said. The unemployment rate surged to 7.2% from 6.6%, the biggest monthly jump since October-November 1992 and the highest point since November 2004. Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the report "bad news" and Human Resources Minister Diane Finley warned, "unfortunately, we expect to see more" layoffs over 2009. Employers trimmed payrolls for the third consecutive month. Almost all the losses were in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, the three largest provinces. Some 110,900 factory jobs were eliminated, primarily at vehicle makers. Many other industries, including transportation and warehousing notched smaller losses. Health-care and social services bucked the trend, adding 30,800 jobs. High Frequency Economics said Canada's employment report confirms its bleak view of the economy. "The state of the economy likely is worse now than anyone comprehends," chief economist Carl Weinberg wrote in a report. Toronto-Dominion Bank this week forecast overall job losses of 324,000 this year and an unemployment rate as high as 8.8% in 2010. The government recently offered a 39.9 billion Canadian dollar (US$32.42 billion) two-year fiscal-stimulus plan, and estimates its measures will create 190,000 jobs. It's a drastic change for an employment market that just a year ago boasted a jobless rate of 5.8%, the lowest in 33 years. Central bank Gov. Mark Carney said last month that job losses and a higher unemployment rate are the "unfortunate reality of a recession." He said monetary and fiscal stimulus will help bring jobs back, but will follow, rather than spark, economic recovery, as employers have to be confident that business will improve before they begin hiring.