Ontario's unemployment rate stayed constant in April as the number of full-time jobs rose and part-time jobs sank.

The unemployment rate for Ontario came in at 8.7 per cent, according to the latest labour force survey released Friday by Statistics Canada.

The national unemployment rate is 8 per cent.

Full-time jobs increased by 6,100 and part-time jobs decreased by 9,100.  However, the workforce contracted slightly.

"It's just one month, so I wouldn't read too much into it, but it's certainly welcome. We would have expected further job losses on the month," especially given the pressure on the auto sector and related industries, Pascal Gauthier of TD Economics told ctvtoronto.ca on Friday.

But he noted that even in recessions, you can have the odd month of employment growth or minimal losses.

In March, Ontario lost 11,000 jobs in total, but that's because full-time jobs plunged by 40,000 and part-time work rose by 29,000.

Nationally, the workforce grew by about 36,000 in April, mainly on the strength of 37,000 people who describe themselves as self-employed -- a category that some economists argue is a code word for underemployment.

Employment is down by 321,000 since the recession began in October.

National public-sector employment has declined by two per cent and private-sector by 2.6 per cent.

Eric Lascelles, chief economist with TD Securities, told CTV Newsnet that he expects the jobs picture to remain negative throughout 2009 with the occasional blip of good news. Gauthier echoed that view, saying he expects Ontario to ultimately lose four per cent of the jobs it had at its employment peak. Currently it has lost about 2.6 per cent.

Ontario has lost 174,000 jobs since October, which represents more than half of Canada's decline. Ontario is home to just under 40 per cent of Canada's population.

Manufacturing comprises about 19 per cent of Ontario's economy and has been hit hard since the recession began. However, manufacturing and construction employment both remained stable across Canada in April.

Here are the unemployment rates for selected southern Ontario cities (the previous month's rate in brackets):

  • Toronto - 8.9 (8.8)
  • Hamilton - 7.9 (8.8)
  • Kitchener - 10.1 (9.6)
  • London - 9.5 (8.9)
  • Oshawa - 7.7 (8.3)
  • Ottawa - 5.4 (4.9)
  • St. Catharines-Niagara - 10.5 (9.6)
  • Windsor, Ont. 13.6 (13.7)

Statistics Canada cautions that city-level data is based on small sample sizes, which raises the possibility of sampling error. 

Gauthier said "it's no headscratcher" why Windsor -- a city so dominated by the auto sector -- has the highest unemployment rate of  Ontario.

Although Toronto bore the brunt of the early 1990s recession, it seems to bearing up somewhat better this time, he said.

With files from The Canadian Press