Manitoba’s part-time workers see surge in employment The unemployment rate in Canada is dropping, according to figures released Friday by Statistics Canada. Manitoba added 16,000 jobs, primarily part-time work, to boost the country's numbers to 259,000 new jobs in February. The national unemployment rate fell to 8.2 per cent in February, from 9.4 per cent in January. Economics professor at the University of Manitoba, Fletcher Baragar, says it's a pleasant surprise to see part-time work lead the way. "The sectors of the labour force that were really hard hit are youth, in particular aged 15-24, and also women and they are disproportionately employed in part-time work."