OTTAWA, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Some 43,000 new part-time jobs drove Canada's unemployment rate down 0.1 percent to 8.3 percent in January, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The agency said full-time employment was little changed and overall employment remains 280,000 below the level of October 2008.
"The largest employment increases in January occurred in business, building and other support services, and retail and wholesale trade," StatsCan said. "These were partially offset by losses in professional, scientific and technical services, as well as agriculture."
For the first time since the recession began in the fall of 2008, the employment rate for youths posted a significant gain of 29,000 jobs, lowering that group's unemployment rate to 15.1 percent from 16 percent, the agency said.
Notable employment gains were also seen for women aged 25 to 54, with 32,000 new jobs for a 6.3 percent unemployment rate.
