Canada gained a modest 12,500 new jobs in April after losing an estimated 54,500 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.2 percent, according to a report by the Statistics Canada released Friday.
Full-time jobs in Canada increased by around 36,000 in April, while the number of part-time jobs dropped to 23,600, the report said.
Ontario added 3,800 jobs in April for total employment of almost 6.9 million. Ontario gained 17,600 full-time jobs and lost 13,800 part-time jobs during the month.
The data is fairly unpredictable as March's big job loss followed a gain of 50,700 positions in February, according to a report by Reuters. The employment statistics are based on a sample survey of representative households and are considered accurate only to within plus or minus 57,400, 19 times out of 20.
"It was a very choppy report, but basically in line with consensus. Nothing that really stands out to really drive policy one way or another," TD Securities chief Canada macro strategist David Tulk told Reuters.
"The initial knee-jerk move lower in the Canadian dollar ... -- that will just unwind itself and we shouldn't see any lasting implications from this report."
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate hit a six-month high of 14.5 per cent, up from 14.2 per cent in March, as 18,800 jobs were lost among this age group. While the employment situation isn't nearly as calamitous as in Greece or Spain, it is showing little signs of improvement. The jobless rate for people between the ages of 15 and 24 is now higher than it was a year ago.
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