The unemployment rate in Canada was 7.2 per cent at the end of the first quarter of 2012, down 0.3 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. This remains 1.4 per cent below the recent peak from the second quarter of 2009.

Total employment was up in the first quarter to a new record for Canada. The increase built on the gains in employment that have occurred since the end of 2009.

On a seasonally adjusted* basis, job gains totalled 11,400 positions in the first quarter. This was made up of an increase of 7,200 full-time and 4,200 part-time jobs.

Increases in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario offset a large drop in total employment in Quebec.

Fourth quarter job gains were seen in agriculture and natural resources, utilities, manufacturing, public administration, and in educational and information and culture services.

These gains more than offset job losses in construction, trade, transportation and warehousing, the financial sector, and in scientific, business, health, and accommodation and food services.

* Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations.