Canadian, U.S. markets finish week with big gains as investors take in jobs reports

Canadian and U.S. markets finished the week in solidly positive territory as investors took stock of the latest jobs reports in both countries. Statistics Canada said Friday that there has been virtually no employment growth since January as it reported the jobless rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to seven per cent in May. The agency said that’s the highest unemployment rate since 2016 outside the pandemic years. Meanwhile, U.S. data showed employers south of the border slowed their hiring last month, but still added a solid 139,000 jobs despite the uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again…