After two straight months of declines, Canada's job market found its footing in March, adding 41,000 jobs in the month, Statistics Canada reported.

Economists had been expecting a much more modest gain of 5,000 to 10,000 jobs.

The biggest surprise? Oil-shocked Alberta, which alone accounted for nearly half the job growth nationwide. The province added 19,000 jobs, and its unemployment rate plunged to 7.1 per cent, from 7.9 per cent a month earlier. Many economists had been calling for the province to see 8-plus per cent unemployment this year.

The other surprise would be Ontario and British Columbia. These provinces have been leading job growth for the past year (in fact, along with Quebec, they were the only provinces creating jobs), but both provinces slowed in March, with little change in the number of jobs. But B.C. and Ontario still lead in job growth over the past year.