The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Canadian employment saw a rebound in September, with the unemployment rate dropping. The Globe's Mark Rendell and Matt Lundy write that this has sparked a debate on whether the Bank of Canada will increase the size of its interest-rate cuts later this month. After a slow summer, employment increased by nearly 47,000 in September, surpassing analyst expectations of a 27,000 gain, as reported by Statistics Canada on Friday. The unemployment rate decreased to 6.5 per cent from 6.6 per cent, contrary to analysts' predictions of a rise to 6.7 per cent. The unexpectedly strong report led to a decrease in bets on a half-percentage-point rate cut on Oct. 23 that had been gaining traction in recent weeks. However, two central bank surveys published later on Friday shifted market predictions in the opposite direction. These quarterly surveys revealed that Canadian business and consumer sentiment remained weak over the summer, while expectations of future inflation have largely returned to normal levels. The net result left investors divided, with market pricing suggesting that the BOC's choice between a quarter-point and half-point cut this month is essentially a coin toss.
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