By CountingPips.com
Canadian employment data released today showed that jobs rose for a third straight month in March, according to the monthly report by Statistics Canada. Today’s jobs report showed that employment rose by 18,000 workers in March following a gain of approximately 21,000 jobs in February and 43,000 jobs in January. The jobs data did not match the market 
forecasts which were predicting an increase by approximately 25,000 workers for the month.
The unemployment rate remained steady at 8.2 percent as Canadian employment registered its best three-month rise since the financial crisis. Since July 2009 through March 2010, Canadian employment has now increased by 176,000 workers or 1.1 percent.
Part-time employment was the main driver for jobs in March with an increase by 32,000 hires while full-time employment fell by 14,000 workers for the month. The goods-producing sector saw jobs gain by 40,000 workers in March as construction added 21,000 jobs and employment in natural resources rose by 13,000 workers. Manufacturing hires were about flat for the month.
The service-providing sector shed approximately 22,000 jobs in March as the other services category saw a loss of 30,000 jobs while business, building & other support services jobs fell by 26,000 and transportation & warehousing lost 20,000 jobs. The largest contributor to jobs in the service sector was the professional, scientific & technical services category which produced a gain of 38,000 jobs in March.
The province of Ontario led the way in job growth for March with a gain of 10,000 jobs while Quebec added 6,000 workers and Saskatchewan added 3,300 workers. The provinces of Alberta and British Columbia saw job losses for the month totaling 3,400 workers and 500 workers, respectively.
Ontario employment has now increased by 102,000 workers since May 2009 while Quebec has increased its job growth by 56,000 workers since July 2009.
