Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people surged by 106,500 m-o-m in April, while economists had forecast a gain of 10,000 and after an unrevised decline of 7,200 in the previous month. That was the greatest rise in employment since February 1976.

Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment fell to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent in March, below economists’ forecast of 5.8 percent.

According to the report, full-time employment jumped by 73,000 in April, while part-time jobs climbed by 33,600.

In April, the number of private sector employees rose by 83,800 (+0.7 percent m-o-m), while the number of public sector employees grew by 22,700 (+0.6 percent m-o-m). At the same time, the number of self-employed was unchanged last month.

Sector-wise, there were more people working in wholesale and retail trade (+32,400), construction (+29,700), information, culture and recreation (+13,800), "other services" (+13,800), public administration (+9,300) and agriculture (+6,500). At the same time, employment decreased in professional, scientific and technical services (-14,900).

On a year-over-year basis, employment grew by 426,000 (+2.3 percent), with gains in both full-time (+248,000) and part-time (+179,000) work.