The CEO of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council said the latest employment numbers from Statistics Canada are good news for Nova Scotia.

Statistics Canada data showed an increase of 3,400 jobs in Nova Scotia in March. The concentration of this growth won't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the cranes on the Halifax horizon: 1,400 of the jobs added were in construction.

APEC CEO Finn Poschmann said Friday that even an unemployment rate unchanged at 9.1 per cent could be interpreted as a positive sign.

"Nine point one is not a great number, but at least it's level and not up," Poschmann said.

Labour force increasing

He said the rate has remained steady because the size of the labour force is increasing faster than the number of jobs available.

This increased labour force isn't caused by the return of oil sands workers to the Nova Scotia economy. Nova Scotians commuting to temporarily work elsewhere in Canada are counted as part of this province's labour force. That means the move to permanently work in Nova Scotia doesn't affect the labour force count.

The March increase lifts Nova Scotia's annual growth rate, but it still remains lower than Canada's overall.

Little growth long term

Statistics Canada analyst Andrew Fields told CBC News that although numbers show an improvement in economic performance, the overall trend in Nova Scotia is less encouraging.

"If we look at the long term, there hasn't been any real growth over the past few years," Fields said.

Certain sectors of the economy continue to struggle more than others, including workers under 25. The number of youth employed declined by 2,000 in March.

'Clouds on the horizon'

But Poschmann said there's reason for cautious optimism, especially when Nova Scotia is compared to the rest of Atlantic Canada.

"We've seen in this province a better current year outcome than many of our neighbours and I think we should feel good about that," he said.

"There are clouds on the horizon, but if you look in the medium term, there's a pretty good outcome."