Canadian unemployment holds at 7.2%

The unemployment rate in Canada remained unchanged at 7.2 percent in April, the government's data office said Friday. Employment over the past 12 months has risen 9 percent with the addition of 163,000 full-time jobs, Statistics Canada said. Over the same period, the total number of work hours rose 1.5 percent, StatsCan said. In April, jobs were gained in manufacturing and public administration, which was offset by declines in transportation and warehousing, "other services," and business, building and other support services, the report said. The public sector added 34,000 jobs in the month, while the private sector saw little change. Over the past year, public jobs have grown 2.6 percent -- 94,000. Jobs defined as self-employment rose 2.2 percent, or 59,000. And private sector jobs not defined as self-employment were little changed with gains in the second half of 2012 offset by recent job losses in the private sector.