Ottawa, Nov 7 (IANS): Canada's unemployment rate fell to 8.9 per cent in October from September's 9 per cent amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to official figures.

Statistics Canada on Friday said that employment increased 84,000 in October after growing by an average of 2.7 per cent per month since May, reports Xinhua news agency.

Job increases in several industries were partially offset by a decrease of 48,000 in the accommodation and food services industry in October.

In April, the number of workers directly affected by the pandemic-indiced economic shutdown peaked at 5.5 million, including a drop of three million in employment and a 2.5 million increase in absences from work.

By October, the equivalent figure was 1.1 million, including a drop of 636,000 in employment and an increase of 433,000 in the number of Canadians who were employed but working less than half their usual hours.

Most of the employment increase in October was in full-time work which saw a rise of 69,000 jobs and the number of people working part-time was virtually unchanged.

On a year-over-year basis, full-time employment was down 3.1 per cent, compared with a decrease of 3.4 per cent for part-time work.