Canada’s unemployment rate slipped to 6.1% in February as 14,200 new jobs were added to the country’s payrolls, Statistics Canada reported today.

That’s better than economists had expected. Analysts had forecast only 5,000 new jobs would be added. It’s the sixth straight month that the economy has seen an increase in employment.

Economists had also expected the jobless rate to remain at the 6.2% rate seen in January.

The new jobless rate matched the 30-year low set three times in the last year.

StatsCan said manufacturing employment took a major hit in February, as more than 34,000 factory jobs disappeared. Much of that loss took place in Quebec.

“The recent strike by Canadian National Railway workers may have led some manufacturers and support industries to scale back production,: the government agency said.

Healthy job gains were recorded in the service sector, with finance, transportation and health care leading the way. Construction also had a good month, despite February’s drop in housing starts.

Alberta led all provinces with 6,200 new jobs, but its jobless rate rose two-10ths of a percentage point to 3.5% as more people entered its booming labour force. The province still has the country’s lowest unemployment rate.

British Columbia’s jobless rate hit a record low of 4% last month. New Brunswick’s 6.9% jobless rate also was an all-time low as the province added 2,500 jobs and its labour force shrank.

Newfoundland’s jobless rate fell by 1.1 percentage points to 14.3%.