Ottawa, Mar 13 (IANS): Canada's unemployment rate fell 1.2 percentage points to 8.2 per cent in February 2021, the lowest rate since March 2020, it was revealed.

Statistics Canada said on Friday that employment increased by 259,000 in February after falling by 266,000 over the previous two months, reports Xinhua news agency.

The part-time section added 171,000 jobs and the full-time added 88,000 jobs in the month.

"February marked 12 months of unprecedented changes in the Canadian labour market, resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic," Statistics Canada said.

Compared with 12 months earlier, there were 599,000 fewer people employed, and 406,000 more people working less than half of their usual hours.

In February, total hours worked increased by 1.4 per cent, driven mostly by gains in wholesale and retail trade.

Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate would have been 10.7 per cent in February had it included in calculations Canadians who wanted to work but didn't search for a job.

After falling steadily from September 2020 to January 2021, the number of people working in the information, culture, and recreation industry was little changed in February.

February employment increases were concentrated in jobs paying C$17.50 per hour or less, reflecting monthly growth in industries with a high proportion of low-paying jobs.