The Toronto Stock Exchange ended the first full trading week of 2009 on a down note as news of a rising unemployment rate underscored the deteriorating state of the economy.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 136.4 points, or 1.5%, to close at 9,085.18. It lost 1.6% this week.

The descent followed news that Canadian employers cut 34,000 jobs in the month of December—a figure worse than economists had expected. This boosts Canada’s unemployment rate to 6.6% from 6.3%.

The energy group tumbled 2.6% as oil futures continued to slide. Crude for February delivery closed down 87 cents, or 2.1%, at US$40.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc. shares fell $0.93, or 3.2%, to end at $27.89.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. dipped 2.6% to $50.74 and EnCana Corp. moved lower by 2.8% to $56.47.

Higher for the day was Niko Resources Ltd., up 1.3% to $49.90.

Gold futures were flat for the day, with the February contract ending up 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, at US$855 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Still, gold companies trading in Toronto took a hit, pulling the sub-gold index down by 1.7%.

Materials stocks moved lower by 0.7%.

This included a 3.6% tumble for shares of Goldcorp Inc., which ended at $32.38, and a 2% drop for shares of Kinross Gold Corp., which closed at $21.14.

Teck Cominco Ltd. shares took another hit following Thursday’s news that the company would cut 1,400 jobs worldwide. Teck’s B-class shares dropped 5% to $7.05.

In positive territory were fertilizer producers Potash Corp., up 2% to $100.70, and Agrium Inc., up 1.4% to $42.25.

The financials group fell by 1.6% on Friday.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce shares slid $1.60, or 3%, to $52.66 and Royal Bank of Canada shares slipped 2.4% to $36.81

Manulife Financial Corp.’s stock fell 2% to $23.00 and Bank of Nova Scotia was down 1.9% to $33.00.

Junior companies on the TSX Venture exchange bucked the trend on Friday and moved higher by 9.43 points, or 1.05%, to finish at 908.9.

The Canadian dollar retreated by US0.87¢, to end the week at US83.98¢.

In New York, U.S. stock markets tumbled after similarly dismal employment news. The U.S. Labour Department reported that nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, marking the greatest number of annual losses since 1945.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143.28 points, or 1.6%, to 8,599.18. The blue-chip average lost 4.8% for the week.

The S&P 500 index shed 19.38 points, or 2.1%, to end at 890.35, dragged down by financial and energy shares. The index fell 4.5% this week.

The Nasdaq composite dipped 45.42 points, or 2.8% on Friday, to end at 1,571.59. The index is down 3.7% for the week.

IE