Job loss numbers for February expected to be grim: economists

When Statistics Canada releases unemployment data for February on Friday, economists forecast it will show that between 40,000 to 70,000 jobs were lost across the country.

They also predict the unemployment rate will be between 7.4 per and 7.6 per cent.

While job losses for February are expected, economists don't expect to see the massive employment losses seen in January. During that month, the Canadian economy shed 129,000 jobs, which pushed the national jobless rate by 0.6 of a percentage point to 7.2 per cent.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, when he was urging the Senate to pass the federal budget implementation bill, said he expected more bad jobs news for February.

"These numbers are not likely to be good," Flaherty said during an appearance before the Senate's national finance committee.

Between October 2008 and January 2009, Canada lost 213,000 jobs.