In a further sign that the Canadian economy may be recovering from the recession, the country gained 79,000 jobs last month, Statistics Canada said.

About 321,000 jobs have disappeared from the economy since the financial crisis struck in October 2008. But those losses are shrinking as more Canadians find work, according to the agency's latest employment numbers, released Friday.

As a result, the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 per cent in November, to 8.5 per cent.

The good economic news was echoed south of the border, where new statistics showed the American unemployment rate dropped from 10.2 per cent in October to 10.0 per cent last month.

On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama described the drop in unemployment as "modestly encouraging."

In Canada, the number of full-time jobs grew by 39,000, the third consecutive monthly increase. The economy also gained 40,000 part-time positions, ending a two-month slide.

While job growth had been stagnant in the private sector for several months, November's gains were spread evenly across the public and private sectors.

The new jobs were concentrated in the services sector, which StatsCan said returned to its October 2008 level. By contrast, the goods sector had lost 324,000 jobs over that time.

"Between October 2008 and March 2009, employment fell in almost all industries, especially in manufacturing and construction," the report reads. "Since March 2009, however, employment has slowed its decline in manufacturing, while it has picked up in construction and in a number of service industries."

According to BNN's Tanya Gallus, the job growth was five-times the expected number. She added that some economists are saying that the statistics are proof positive that the economy is transitioning from recession to recovery.

StatsCan also said wages rose hourly wages rose by 2.3 per cent compared to the same time last year, although that's the smallest annual wage increase since March 2007.

The job gains were concentrated in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Gallus said sectors that showed the best growth were finance, education and manufacturing. She added that women aged 24 to 54 and men over 55 led those growth numbers.

The overall job growth represented "an absolute blow-away number," BNN's Michael Kane said on Friday.

"It was across many sectors, many full-time jobs, which are regarded as good-quality jobs because it means steady income and a steady flow of money back into the economy," Kane said. "Now the question is how the employment picture looks going forward from here."

News of the job growth helped push up the Canadian dollar by a third of a cent Friday morning, Kane added.

The number of self-employed workers also shrank by 32,000 in November, which could be a good sign. Economists tend to attribute self-employment during a recession to laid-off workers starting their own businesses as a last resort to make ends meet.

Ontario gained 27,000 jobs, but the province's unemployment rate remained constant at 9.3 per cent. Quebec's employment base grew by 21,000 jobs, pushing down its unemployment rate from 8.5 per cent to 8.1 per cent.

The number of employed workers in Alberta rose by 13,000 in November, the province's largest gain in more than 12 months. Employment also grew in Newfoundland and Labrador by 2,700 jobs.

Job numbers south of the border were also better than expected. The unemployment rate in the U.S. remained "essentially unchanged" in November, Kane said, with 11,000 job losses.

"The question is, when does the job loss actually stop, and the job gains start in the United States? That could be still a few months away," Kane said.

Meanwhile, TD economist Don Drummond said that despite the positive signs, it's unlikely that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in the short term.

"They will go up, lets face it, they're extraordinarily low," Drummond told CTV News Channel Friday afternoon.

Drummond predicted that interest rates will go up again in the New Year, but perhaps not until October of 2010.

With files from The Canadian Press