Canadian employment reaches record high

Ottawa-- Canada's employment rate hit a record 68 percent in March despite a surge of entrants into the labor market, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The agency said 34,000 new part-time jobs were logged, the largest increase in the sector since November 2006.

Offsetting that number, unemployment rose by 2 percent to 6 percent despite the increase in employment.

The agency said during the past 12 months employment grew by an estimated 325,000 jobs, or 1.9 percent.

Records were set in the provinces of Alberta, where the employment rate reached a high of 74.7 percent, and British Columbia, where it hit 64 percent.

The agency said the first quarter of 2008 had a 1.2 percent increase in employment growth among private sector employees, compared with public sector growth of 3 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.