Canada’s job market surprisingly gained 83,000 positions in June, pushing the unemployment rate down to 6.9 per cent from seven per cent and adding another wrinkle to predictions of where interest rates are headed.

Benjamin Reitzes, BMO’s managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategy, said in a note that while he is “skeptical” of the strong report given the uncertainty hanging over the economy, the June jobs figures were “pretty decent overall.”

Canada’s labour market topped expectations in June amid a surprise surge in hiring. Statistics Canada said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent in June as the economy added some 83,