Montreal's labour market continues to make gains, as newly released figures suggest the city's unemployment rate in December was the lowest its been in nearly three decades.

According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate on the island of Montreal for December was 7.3 per cent, down three points from December 2015.

The previous low for December was in 2007 and 2008, when the unemployment rate for the island was 8.6 per cent.

When the greater Montreal area, which includes Laval and parts of the South Shore, is taken into account, the labour-market picture gets even brighter.

At 6.8 per cent, the December unemployment rate for the region is at its lowest since 2006 and 2007, when it hit 7 per cent.

"We're observing a clear trend downwards," said Emmanuelle Boudreau, an analyst with Statistics Canada.

Boudreau noted that last December unemployment was at 8.8 per cent for the Montreal region, and has edged downwards ever since.

"The decrease was produced throughout this period," she added. "Since October, it's a bit more stable. The unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in October, 6.5 in November and now 6.8."

​The positive jobs report for Montreal reflected overall gains in Quebec.

The province added 20,000 jobs in December, with improvements coming in educational services, information, culture and recreation and forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction.

Quebec's unemployment rate is now at 6.6 per cent. The national rate is at 6.9 per cent.