The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.1 per cent in September after the Canadian economy added a better-than-expected 60-thousand jobs in September. Statistics Canada says the gains were concentrated in full-time work — as roughly 100-thousand full-time jobs more than offset a drop in part-time work. The unemployment rate for the Belleville-Quinte West Census Metropolitan area decreased in September, falling to 6.6 per cent from 7.5 in August. Rates for Kingston and Peterborough also fell. Kingston dropped from 6.8 per cent in August to 6.1 last month while Peterborough’s rate decreased to 5.4 from 6.1 per cent. The provincial rate increased slightly from 7.7 per cent to 7.9.

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