Despite the 19,200 jobs created by the Canadian economy in April, Statistics Canada says the national unemployment rate edged up to 6.1 per cent from 6.0 per cent in March.
It was the second month in a row that the jobless rate went up, despite more jobs being created.
StatsCan says the reason for the increase in unemployment is because more people are looking for work, not job losses.
Canada's economy has created almost 350,000 jobs over the past 12 months, with full-time work rising twice as fast as part time.
In April, all of the gains were in full-time and self-employment, StatsCan said.
Overall, Canada's employment rate for working-age people sits at 64.5, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. In contrast, the U.S. had a 0.3 percentage point contraction to 62.7 per cent.
While the U.S. economic slowdown led to declines in Canadian exports, particularly in manufacturing and forestry, other industries have taken up the slack.
StatsCan said that employment in construction and finance declined in the U.S., while these industries, particularly construction, added employment over the past year in Canada.
But the manufacturing sector continued to hurt in both countries, as Canada lost 14,900 jobs in the sector in April, bringing the 12-month total to 111,500.
Most of the factory jobs were lost in Ontario -- about 50,000 over the past 12 months. British Columbia lost 29,000, Quebec 13,000 and even the mighty Albertan economy shed 11,000 jobs in the sector.
In April, 16,000 new construction jobs were created and in the hospitality sector, another 22,000.
The strong labour market pushed hourly wages up 4.3 per cent in April at an annualized rate that is more than double inflation. The strongest wage growth came in Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Employment rose in every province, except Quebec, which had a net loss of 22,000 jobs.
Manitoba had the strongest April, with an additional 9,000 jobs created -- reducing its unemployment rate to 3.8 per cent, second-lowest in Canada, next to Alberta.
Women aged 25 and over were the only demographic to have employment growth in April with a net gain of 17,000 jobs.
