OTTAWA: Canada’s labour market received a surge in full-time, private-sector work last month that helped drive the unemployment rate down to 7.1 per cent. Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey says the country gained 40,600 jobs in March compared to the previous month — and 35,300 of them were full-time.
The agency says the increase knocked the jobless rate down from 7.3 per cent and was fuelled by the addition of 74,700 net new positions in the services sector. It also says 65,100 jobs were created in the private sector, while the number of public-sector positions fell by 2,600. Alberta’s provincial unemployment rate slid to 7.1 per cent in March from 7.9 per cent the month before — despite the fact the rate rose in both Calgary and Edmonton.
A consensus of economists had been predicting the country to add 10,000 net jobs and for the unemployment rate to stay at 7.3 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters. Compared with 12 months earlier, Canada has added 129,600 net new jobs, an increase of 0.7 per cent. This was the largest month-over-month increase since the labour market added 43,100 jobs in October.
