UPDATE 2-Canada adds 6,600 jobs in July, loses full-time posts

(Adds market reaction, economists' comments, U.S. comparison)
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Canada added an estimated 6,600
jobs in July from June, in a mixed report from Statistics Canada
on Friday that left analysts concluding that while the economy
was not spectacular, it was at least "steady as she goes."
The gain in July nearly mirrored a fall in June while
holding on to May's outsized gain of 58,900. The average
increase is 19,700 jobs in the last three months and 11,200 in
the last half year. The jobless rate held at 6.8 percent.
The median forecast in a Reuters survey of economists was
for a gain of 5,000 jobs, with the jobless rate at 6.8 percent.
However, the number of full-time positions fell by 17,300
and the number of employees actually fell an estimated 33,900,
with the self-employed rising by 40,500. Employment grew in the
services sector but fell in the goods-producing sector.
"Obviously, it's not a particularly strong report. We saw an
outright decline in full-time jobs. But it also doesn't show a
pronounced weakening in the economy," Bank of Montreal Chief
Economist Doug Porter said.
"Typically, if we were having a full-blown recession, you
would have this process where output declines and then
employment declines and then spending declines and it feeds on
itself, and we're just not seeing that in Canada."
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Canada jobs, unemployment http://link.reuters.com/fax39t
Full-time vs. part-time http://link.reuters.com/pev29v
Temporary vs. permanent http://link.reuters.com/xuf98v
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"In Canada, it's serving as a steady-as-she-goes type of
release. The U.S. number is the same kind of thing, where it's
close enough to the market where it doesn't really drive too
much," said David Tulk, chief Canada macro strategist at
Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The United States added 215,000 non-farm jobs in July, with
unemployment at 5.3 percent. The two jobless rates are not
strictly comparable. ID:nLNN7JEBEB