Canada's unemployment rate fell 0.2% in February to 7.4%, as the economy lost 28-hundred jobs during the month.

Economists had expected February to show a slight increase in employment of 15,000, in part because job creation has been virtually non-existent since last August.

In the last 7 months, job creation has slowed to an average of just over 3,000 a month.

Statistics Canada says losses in February came in retail and wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, health care and social assistance, and public administration.