The following is excerpted from today's edition of "globeandmail.com".

The Canadian economy created a whopping 108,700 jobs last month – more than four times as many as expected – the largest monthly gain on record as the services sector added to payrolls.

The jobless rate fell to 8.1 per cent in April from 8.2 per cent a month earlier, Statistics Canada said Friday. Economists had expected just 25,000 jobs in the month with the rate holding steady.

The move pushed the Canadian dollar higher. The currency, which plunged more than 2 cents on Thursday amid concerns over Europe’s debt crisis, regained more than a cent on Friday. It last traded at 96.12 cents (U.S.). The hot reading makes it more likely the Bank of Canada will start boosting its key lending rate next month.

“This dramatic surge certainly tips the odds back in favour of the bank beginning to hike rates in June, although clearly the global financial backdrop can still weigh back in,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Canadian employment has now tallied four straight months of gains and recouped 68 per cent of the total jobs lost during the recession, he added.

April’s surge brings total gains since the start of the employment recovery in July to 285,000 people. The six-month trend, which smoothes out monthly volatility, shows employers are adding 39,000 jobs a month, according to Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Last month’s move “was of a similar magnitude” to some of the monthly losses in the most recent employment downturn, which began in the fall of 2008, Statscan said.

Men and youth – the groups hardest hit by the recession – led last month’s gains. Two-thirds of last month’s employment growth was among men aged 25 and over – the strongest monthly increase on record. Employment was little changed for women.

Employment gains were in both part-time positions, at 65,000, and full-time work, 44,000. Since July, much of the growth has been in full-time jobs, the agency said.

All of April's increase was among employees in the private sector. Wholesale and retail trade, business, building and other support services, and construction led the way. That far outweighed losses in public administration along with food and accommodation. The services side of the economy, as well as construction and natural resources, have led job gains since July.

The eye-popping number will no doubt raise some skepticism. As Statscan notes, its labour force survey estimates are based on a sample, and “are therefore subject to sampling variability.”

The sample survey is based on responses from 53,000 representative households across Canada and was conducted between April 11 and April 17....

“It’s well above the standard of error, so we have confidence in it,” said Statscan’s labour analyst Vincent Ferrao.

The job gains were the largest in absolute terms since record-keeping began in 1976. In percentage terms, it was the biggest increase since August, 2002.

“The healthy pace of job gains...sets the stage for the recovery's momentum to be sustained,” said Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada in a note.

With jobs, housing, trade and retail sales climbing, RBC recently boosted its growth forecast for the first quarter to 5.5 per cent on an annualized basis, after 5-per-cent growth in the fourth quarter -- which would mark the fastest back-to-back gains since 1999-2000.

Still, most economists don’t expect the current pace of growth to last into the second half of the year as interest rates rise, the Canadian dollar bites exporters and the housing market cools.

Among provinces, the biggest gains were in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. Still, Ontario jobless rate didn’t budge, at 8.8 per cent, as more people entered the labour market in search of work. Alberta created some jobs last month, but even so, it’s the only province with no employment growth since July.

Average hourly wages rose 2 per cent in April from a year ago – a rate of growth that’s little changed since January.