The number of employed Canadians grew more than expected in May, while the unemployment rate remained steady as more people resumed job hunting.
Statistics Canada reports that an additional 24,700 jobs were generated last month, well above the 15,000 that had been expected by economists.
The increases were powered by gains in full-time employment, while part-time and self-employment dropped.
"There was nothing not to like in the jobs report," said Don Drummond, TD Bank's chief economist.
Job prospects stayed steady or improved in all but two provinces: British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. Ontario registered an increase of 17,700 jobs, the most in Canada.
The unemployment rate reported was 8.1 per cent, the same level it was at in April.
The transportation and warehousing industries, as well as health care, social assistance and public administration sectors added the most jobs in May. Setbacks were seen in the accommodation and food services sector, as well as information, culture and recreation and in natural resources.
However, Drummond cautioned that Canada may not be out of the woods yet, due to poorer than expected job numbers south of the border.
"We're creating an awful lot of jobs but certainly you see the black clouds are over the horizon, and those clouds are coming north to us form the United States."
Job numbers from released by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday indicated that paid jobs increased by 431,000 last month. But the vast majority of those were temporary Census Bureau jobs.
The U.S. economy now needs 13 million new jobs in order for the unemployment rate to drop to its pre-recession level of 6 per cent. Economist say that may take years to achieve, and such poor economic indicators could have an impact on the Canadian recovery.
"If we ever forgot the fact that we are driven by the U.S. economic cycle surely we were reminded of that in this last recession," Drummond said. "So we have to be worried about what's going on beyond our borders."
Since last July, Canada's economy has added 310,000 jobs, which accounts for about three-quarters of the jobs lost during the recession.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
