Canada saw an increase of 58,000 jobs in April, the second straight month of notable gains in the workforce, according to Statistics Canada.

In its monthly Labour Force Survey, StatsCan said the gains follow four months of relative flat jobs growth in November, December, January and February.

Most of the April gains were in full-time work, with advances in the goods sector, as well as manufacturing, natural resources and agriculture.

Jobs were up in education as well, but declined in the public administration sector.

The new jobs marked an increase of 1.2 per cent, or 214,000 jobs from a year earlier.

Derek Burleton, deputy chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group, said the numbers came as a welcome surprise to many economists.

"Most expectations were for little or no job growth in April," he told CTV News Channel. "The big surprise was in three sectors in particular, it was manufacturing, natural resources and construction. And when we look at the landscape we're seeing Americans buying more cars and that's helping our manufacturing sector."

When broken down by province, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island all saw jobs increases.

Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia saw no notable changes in the number of people working.

Despite the growth in jobs, unemployment also nudged up 0.1 per cent to 7.3 per cent, with more people looking for work.

Following are some key points from the report:

  • In April, construction employment rose by 25,000 jobs and were up 3.5 per cent from a year earlier;
  • Manufacturing jobs were up by 24,000 in April, continuing an upward trend that began in December;
  • Educational service jobs were up 17,000;
  • Natural resources employment continued an upward trend that began last fall, and showed a robust increase of 12.5 per cent employment from a year earlier;
  • Agricultural employment increased by 10,000 jobs in April;
  • Employment in public administration dropped by 32,000 jobs.

Capital Economics issued a note saying the news is encouraging, but Canada should proceed cautiously.

"While we have no doubt that interest rate hawks will take this opportunity to impress the need for higher interest rates, we think caution is warranted," said the statement. "These unusually strong gains follow a longer string of unusually weak figures."

The note said analysts at Capital Economics would like to see more evidence that the economy is on an upward trajectory before they advocate for an increased lending rate from the Bank of Canada.