OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says the economy created',200 jobs in April, but that was insufficient to keep the national unemployment rate from edging up to 6.1 per cent from 6.0 per cent in March.
April was the second consecutive month the jobless rate has risen despite the economy continuing to create jobs, albeit at a slowed pace.
As with the previous month, more people looking for work caused the unemployment rate to rise.
Still, the agency noted that over the past 12 months, Canada's economy created 348,000 new jobs, with full-time work rising twice as fast as part-time.
Canada's employment rate has increased 0.5 percentage points in the past year to 64.5 per cent of working-age people, compared to a 0.3 percentage point contraction in the U.S. to 62.7 per cent.
In April, the agency said the vast majority of the new jobs were in the full-time and self-employed category.
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