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This article was published 11/2/2017 (1314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s unemployment rate fell a couple of notches in January after the economy posted a net gain of 1,300 new jobs for the month, Statistics Canada said Friday.

In its latest monthly labour force survey report, the agency said the Manitoba economy added 3,700 new full-time jobs during the month. But those gains were partially offset by the loss of 2,400 part-time positions.

Still, the net gain was big enough to nudge the provincial unemployment rate down to 6.1 per cent from 6.3 per cent in December. That’s the second-lowest jobless rate in the country after British Columbia’s 5.6 per cent.

The report showed even better employment gains for the past 12 months. The agency said Manitoba recorded a net gain of 5,700 new jobs between January of last year and January of this year, and virtually all of them full-time positions.

Nationally, Canada’s labour market unexpectedly added 48,300 jobs last month, thanks to surges in part-time and private-sector work.

The Statistics Canada report shows an increase of 32,400 part-time positions and a gain of 15,800 jobs in the more desirable category of full-time work. It also found the number of private-sector jobs rose 32,400 between December and January, compared with an increase of 7,700 public-sector positions.

The national unemployment rate fell to 6.8 per cent from 6.9 per cent in December. Statistics Canada says the vast majority of the new jobs were created in the services sector.

— with files by The Canadian Press

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca