Canada’s COVID-19 ravaged economy created 378,000 jobs in September, even as COVID-19 cases surged.

The bulk of them, 334,000, were full-time positions, according to Statistics Canada.

“The surprising advance was also heavily tilted toward the hard-hit services sector (+303K), particularly accommodation and food services, education, and information, culture and recreation, each of which had seen a significant impact from COVID-19,” said CIBC Economist Royce Mendes.

The strong month brings the unemployment rate down to 9 per cent from 10.2 per cent. It also brings the job market to within 720,000 jobs of its February pre-pandemic level.

The number of Canadians who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours due to the pandemic fell by 108,000. Of those who are still working their usual number of hours, work from home fell to 25.6 per cent from 26.4 per cent

Employment among core-aged women (25 to 54