The U.S. unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.7% in March as a better-than-expected 211,000 jobs were added to payrolls.

The jobless rate was an improvement from the 4.8% seen in February.

The early spring hiring boom easily surpassed economists’ forecasts of a gain of 190,000 jobs last month. They had been expecting the unemployment rate would hold steady at 4.8%.

The U.S. Labor Department said hiring was spread throughout much of the economy, as the construction, financial services, education, health-care and government sectors all saw gains. The manufacturing and transportation sectors saw job losses.

During the same month, Canada’s unemployment rate fell to a 32-year low of 6.3%.