04:15 PM EST, 11/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange eked out a gain Friday as BMO's Douglas Porter was among those to parse the latest data on "Canada's famously flighty job market" and note while all the gains in October employment were in part-time positions, in Ontario and in spectator entertainment, they were also "solid" and "nearly doused any flickering embers" around the chances of a follow up rate cut in December.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 43.60 points, or 0.15%, tp 29,912.19. Most sectors were higher, led by the Battery Metals Index up 1.2%, and both Base Metals and Utilities up near 1%. In contrast, Info Tech was down 2.6%.

Data released early Friday showed the Canadian labor market's post summer surge continued into October, with a 67K gain in jobs much higher than the consensus forecast around a negative 5K, and enough to bring the unemployment rate back below 7%. All positive.

Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, in his regular weekly 'Talking Points' column noted while a pair of very weak results in the middle of summer had likely helped prod the Bank of Canada back into easing mode, employment "roared back" with even larger gains in the past two months.

Porter also noted: "Suffice it to say that we were handling a variety of questions over the validity of the data, but the details made some sense. All the gains were in part-time positions, with almost all the strength in Ontario and in the sectors related to spectator entertainment. It doesn't require much sleuthing to recognize that the Blue Jays' long playoff run [in the baseball championship] juiced hiring activity, with upwards of 50,000 jobs possibly driven by October baseball."

According to Porter: "The solid jobs report nearly doused any flickering embers around the chances of a follow-up rate cut by the Bank of Canada in December. In fact, if the job strength proves persistent, our call of a trim in early 2026 looks to be in danger. However, we suspect that the strength will be short-lived, and still look for the jobless rate to push back above 7% in coming months. The fact that the housing market refuses to respond to the deep 275 bps of rate cuts since last June implies that the BoC has not overdone it on the easing cycle. The early read on October home sales is that buyers are turning cautious again, given the tough trade backdrop and layoffs in manufacturing."

Elsewhere, Derek Holt, Head of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank, summed up the situation thus: Canada heaped on more jobs of "fairly low quality", drove the unemployment rate down, recorded "supercharged" wage growth and a temporary drop in hours worked. "All of which vindicates, at least for now, the BoC's clear hold signal and the Carney administration's [the governing minority Liberal government under PM Mark Carney] resistance against heaping on cyclical stimulus."

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting Canada expects that talks with the United States on trade will resume "at some point," Prime Minister Mark Carney told a business audience in Toronto on Friday, but did not give details. U.S. President Donald Trump last month suspended the talks over an anti-tariff advertisement issued by Ontario's provincial government. Canada wants a deal to lower import tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos imposed by Trump.

Of commodities, gold traded higher by midafternoon on Friday as the dollar fell, even as the metal remains rangebound after correcting from its Oct. 20 record high. Gold for December delivery was up $22.20 to US$4,013.20 per ounce.

Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher, rebounding from three losing sessions that came on continuing over-supply concerns and weakening economic data. WTI crude oil for December delivery closed up $0.32 to settle at US$59.75 per barrel, while January Brent oil was last seen up $0.26 to US$63.64.