canada added 104000 net new jobs in december pushing down its unemployment rate a tick to 50 percent  just above a record low the national statistical agency said friday employment growth statistics canada said in a statement was led by an increase among youth aged 15 to 24 in mostly fulltime work among nonstudents as well as in parttime work among students beating expectations overall employment gains were observed in the private sector across several industries including construction transportation and warehousing the resulting 01 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate which came in just shy of a record low of 49 percent reached in june and july marked the third decline in four months the labor force survey also found an uptick in work absenteeism due to illness as influenza and other respiratory viruses swept across the country meanwhile average yearoveryear wage growth remained above five percent for a seventh consecutive month