Canada's jobless rate has taken an unprecedented leap upward, and Ontario accounted for a disproportionate share of the lost jobs.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that employment fell by 129,000 in Canada, driving the national unemployment rate up to 7.2 per cent. Analysts had expected to see about 40,000 jobs lost nationally.

"This drop in employment exceeds any monthly decline during the previous economic downturns of the 1980s and 1990s," the national statistical agency wrote.

Ontario's unemployment rate is now eight per cent, the highest since November 1997. The province, which has roughly one-third of Canada's population, lost 71,000 jobs, more than half of all the jobs lost in Canada last month.

British Columbia lost 35,000 jobs and Quebec lost 26,000. "Employment was little changed in all other provinces," Statistics Canada said.

Manufacturing got clobbered again. The net national loss was 101,000 jobs. Thirty-six thousand of those jobs disappeared in Ontario. Quebec lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs and B.C. another 18,000. "Factory employment was also down in Alberta and Manitoba," Statistics Canada said.

The worst losses in manufacturing occurred in the automotive sector, it said.

The Big Three had announced before Christmas it would be temporarily shutting down production at many Ontario assembly plants in January to cope with rising inventory caused by a major drop-off in auto sales.

To add to the auto woes, Chrysler announced Friday its Brampton plant, which makes sedans, will be idled from Feb. 9-13.

However, many other sectors also reported losses in January, such as furniture, computer and electronics, appliances and clothing, Statistics Canada said.

The trucking sector, which moves the goods produced by factories, also took a beating. Nationally, 30,000 such jobs were lost, but Statistics Canada said most of those were lost in Ontario.

Nationally, the only bright spots in employment growth were in health care and social services.

Here are the January unemployment rates for some selected Ontario cities (December rate in brackets). Bear in mind that sample sizes for individual cities are small, which could lead to error:

  • Toronto - 7.8 (7.3)
  • Hamilton - 8.0 (7.0)
  • Kitchener - 8.4 (7.9)
  • London - 7.8 (7.3)
  • Oshawa - 8.0 (7.8)
  • St. Catharines-Niagara - 8.8 (8.8)
  • Windsor - 10.9 (10.1)
  • Ottawa - 4.5 (4.6)
  • Kingston - 4.9 (4.4)

Flaherty in Toronto

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, the Conservative MP for Whitby-Oshawa, said Friday during a speech in Toronto that the hemmorhaging of jobs isn't done yet.

He didn't rule out further stimulus beyond what was promised in the Jan. 27 budget -- which will create a deficit of at least $34 billion.

"If it is necessary to do more, we will do more," he said.

Flaherty also urged the G20 countries, who are meeting next week in Rome, not to put up protectionist trade measures.

U.S. job losses

The United States, Ontario's most important export market, is going through severe job-loss pain of its own.

Almost 600,000 jobs were lost in January -- the most since 1974.

As a result, the jobless rate in the U.S. surged to 7.6 per cent in January, from 7.2 per cent in December. That is the highest rate since September 1992.

In the U.S. manufacturing also suffered the most, accounting for 207,000 of the positions cut in January. That is the largest one-month drop since October 1982.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass his US$900-billion-plus stimulus plan.

"These numbers demand action. It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work. It is time for Congress to act," he said Friday.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press