Canada added 19,400 jobs in March from February with the gain mostly from full-time employment, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada. The number of full-time jobs rose by 18,400 in March while part-time jobs rose by 1,000.

Compared to the same month a year ago, Canadian employment rose by 276,000 jobs in March, an increase of 1.5%, mostly in full-time work.

Total employment in Canada was more than 18.3 million in March. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%.

“Strong job creation and economic expansion in the first quarter of 2017 shows an economy with considerable momentum,” Craig Alexander, senior VP and chief economist at The Conference Board of Canada, said in a statement. “With the weakness in business capital spending in recent years, the slack in the Canadian economy is being rapidly absorbed. Given this situation, the Bank of Canada might want to think about returning the overnight rate to its pre-commodity shock level of 1.00% before the end of the year.”

In March, more people were employed in manufacturing; business, building and other support services; wholesale and retail trade; and information, culture and recreation. In contrast, declines were recorded in educational services; transportation and warehousing; "other services"; and public administration.

Employment in Ontario fell in March when compared to the previous month as a loss of part-time workers offset a gain in full-time workers; the province gained 11,300 full-time jobs but lost 22,500 part-time jobs. Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 6.4% from 6.2%.