The Canadian Press

The Toronto-Dominion Bank says the Canadian economy is ready to start creating jobs — about 280,000 of them next year.

The estimate is part of the bank’s newest forecast for the world and Canadian economies that shows growth has begun after about a year of contraction.

The bank has employment rising in each quarter next year and into 2011, with the jobless rate returning to 7.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011. It currently stands at 8.5%.

The newest forecast calls for the world economy to expand by a fairly robust 3.8% next year, after a 1% retreat in 2009.

Canada’s economy will bounce back strongly during this current quarter — the October-December period — with a 4.1% annualized advance, followed by a more modest 2.7% expansion in 2010.

That will be among the strongest in the G7, but not by historic standards.

Typically, deep recessions are followed by growth rates of 4-to-6% as production ramps up to meet pent-up demand.

But the TD Bank says weak U.S. demand and increased competition as a result of the high-priced loonie will temper exports, even as shipments to non-U.S. foreign markets pick up.