jobs in September, Statistics Canada says. The gain, which was far stronger than economists expected, brings employment to within 720,000 of its level in February, before the novel coronavirus pandemic took hold in Canada.The unemployment rate dropped for the fourth consecutive month, declining 1.2 percentage points to 9 per cent.Financial data firm Refinitiv found the average economist was expecting 156,600 new jobs in September and an unemployment rate of 9.7 per cent.More to come— With a file from the Canadian Press.