Employment in Canada rose by 28,700 in March from February, driven by gains in part-time work, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by Statistics Canada. The number of full-time jobs fell by 28,200 while part-time jobs rose by 56,800.

Total employment in Canada was approximately 17.9 million in March, and the Canadian unemployment rate remained 6.8%. Adjusted to the concepts used in the US, the unemployment rate in Canada was 5.9% in March, also unchanged from February.

More people worked in retail and wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, educational services and natural resources in March. However, employment declined in construction, public administration and agriculture. The number of public sector workers increased in March, but there was little change in the number of private sector employees and the self-employed.

By province, employment rose in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and was little changed in the other provinces. Ontario lost 25,700 full-time jobs but gained 27,500 part-time jobs during the month. Ontario’s unemployment rate remained at 6.9%.

Saskatchewan posted the lowest unemployment rate among all provinces in March, at 4.4%; Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest at 13.3%.