The Canadian economy added 11,300 jobs in July, Statistics Canada reported today. Those jobs pushed the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 6.0%, its lowest level since 1974.

The net job creation numbers came in slightly below the 18,000 figure analysts had been expecting.

Employment gains in professional, scientific and technical services; manufacturing; transportation and warehousing; and utilities offset declines in educational services and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing.

The manufacturing sector added 19,600 to the nation’s payrolls in July. But that still leaves the country with 72,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than it had at the end of 2006.

Alberta was the only province to record a notable increase in employment. The 13,600 jobs added in that province pushed its jobless rate down by half a percentage point to 3.3%.