Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 35,200 m-o-m in December, while economists had forecast a gain of 25,000 and after an unrevised drop of 71.200 in the previous month.

Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment remained fell to 5.6 percent in December from 5.9 percent in November, below economists' forecast for 5.8 percent.

According to the report, full-time employment increased by 38,400 (or +0.2 percent m-o-m) in December, while part-time jobs declined by 3,200 (or -0.1 percent m-o-m).

In December, the number of public sector employees decreased by 21,500 (-0.6 percent m-o-m), while the number of private sector employees rose by 56,900 (+0.5 percent m-o-m). At the same time, the number of self-employed dropped by 200 (flat m-o-m) last month.

Sector-wise, employment increased in both in goods-producing (+0.4 percent m-o-m) and in service-producing businesses (+0.1 percent m-o-m).

In the 12 months to December, employment in Canada grew by 320,000 or 1.7 percent, a faster pace than that observed in 2018 (+1.1 percent).