Employment in March was up 1.1% from February. The unemployment rate was 6.9%, down from 7.0% in February. Construction employment grew by 0.2% from February while manufacturing employment decreased 0.5% from a month earlier
In March, employment stood at 17.8 million, up 1.1% from March 2013. Full-time employment grew by 12,800 from February, while part-time employment increased by 30,100 from the previous month. Full-time employment was up by 136,700 from March 2013, while part-time increased by 53,300 over the same period.
Employment over the past year grew in six provinces. Alberta (+4.0%), British Columbia (+1.0%) and Ontario (+0.9%) led the way. The employment growth rate in Quebec was 0.8%. Employment from a year earlier was down most in Nova Scotia (-2.0%) followed by Newfoundland and Labrador and by Manitoba, both at -1.3%.
Total employment gains of 60,500 have occurred in Ontario since March 2013. Its unemployment rate was 7.3% in March, down from 7.5% in February. Quebec’s total employment increase since March 2013 was 31,400. Its unemployment rate in March was 7.6%, down from 7.8% in February.
Since March 2013, employment in the goods-producing sector has increased by 1.4% and in the services-producing sector it has grown by 1.0%.
The construction industry gained 2,700 jobs in March over February, bringing total construction employment to 1,300,200, which is an increase of 2,800 construction jobs (+0.2%) from March 2013.
Total manufacturing employment was down 9,200 from February to 1,734,500 jobs. That was a gain of 16,000 positions (+0.9%) since March 2013.
The number of people working in retail and wholesale trade was down 5,800 in March from February and totaled 2,694,300. That was a loss of 0.3% from March 2013.
Employment among adult women, aged 25 and over, was up 86,400 in March 2014 over March 2013 and decreased by 2,700 from February. Employment among adult men was up 99,800 in March 2014 over March 2013 and grew by 13,000 from February. Employment among youths (15-24 years of age) was up by 3,800 since March 2013, and grew by 32,500 from February.
In March, private sector employment was up 3,900 from February, and increased 1.8% from March 2013. Self-employment was unchanged in March over February, but decreased by 0.7% from March 2013. Public sector employment was up 1.1% in March from February and increased 0.1% from March 2013. Total private sector employment in March was 11,502,900; self-employment was 2,704,600; and public sector employment was 3,625,600.