Statistics Canada says the economy created a surprisingly strong 34,300 jobs last month, reversing a similar loss in July.
    
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3 per cent, however, as the labour force grew in step with the employment gains.
    
Analysts had expected the economy to add only about 10,000 jobs in August, reflecting the slow pace of growth and the risk-filled nature of the global outlook.
    
The August report was almost a direct mirror image of the July data, with almost all the job gains coming in Quebec. In July, most of the losses were in that province, which at the time was in the middle of an election campaign.
    
The agency said employment also rose in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, while Ontario saw a decline of almost 25,000 jobs.
    
Most of the August gains came in four sectors: transportation and warehousing; professional, scientific and technical services; building and other support services, and natural resources.

Construction took a big hit, shedding 44,000 jobs during the month, while manufacturing was down slightly.

Meanwhile, our neighbours south of the border had some disappointing results even though there was a gain of 96, 000 jobs in August.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the U.S. unemployment rate went down in August to 8.1 per cent, from 8.3 per cent in July.

The real number of unemployed persons was little changed, at 12.5 million. Economists were expecting a monthly gain of 125,000 jobs.

(w files from the Canadian Press)