Canadian employment rose by 90,400 jobs in April, following little change in March, Statistics Canada reported today. Total employment in Canada now stands at 20.49 million.

Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.1% in April, following an increase of 0.3 percentage point in March.

Both full-time and part-time jobs rose in April. Full-time jobs rose by 40,100, and part-time jobs rose by 50,300.

Economists expected the economy to add about 20,000 jobs in April, CBC reported.

“Overall, April’s labor force data were certainly better than expected,” CBC quoted CIBC economist Andrew Grantham, as saying. However, Grantham noted that the overall trend is “loosening conditions” for the job market, pointing out both the higher unemployment rate compared to last year and a drop in wage growth, which fell in April compared to March.

In April, the number of private-sector employees increased by 50,400, while public-sector employment rose by 25,500. The number of self-employed increased by 14,500.

Ontario led employment among the provinces by adding 25,000 jobs in April, followed by British Columbia with 23,400 jobs. Quebec added 19,200 jobs, while New Brunswick added 7,800 jobs in April following five months of little change.