TORONTO - The Canadian dollar gained more than half a cent early Friday as the latest jobs figures delivered a few positive surprises on the Canadian economy.

The loonie was up 0.62 of a cent from the previous close to 91.21 cent cents US, after Statistics Canada said 43,000 net new jobs were added in March.

Before the release of the data, the currency was ahead 0.1 of a cent at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Most of the new jobs were part-time positions, and the vast majority of the new jobs went to young Canadians, the agency said.

If there was a soft spot in the report, besides the preponderance of part-time work, it was that almost all the new jobs were in the public sector, while new private sector hiring was limited to 3,900.

The figure pushed the unemployment rate one tenth of a point lower to 6.9 per cent.

Meanwhile in the United States, employers added 192,000 jobs in March, but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 per cent. The March jobs numbers were slightly below February's total of 197,000.

One of the brightest spots in the U.S. non-farms payroll report was a revision by the Labor Department of its January and February numbers — adding 37,000 more jobs to the period than was originally estimated.

In commodities, the May crude contract gained 58 cents to $100.87 a barrel.

The May copper contract was ahead 2.4 cents at US$3.05 a pound while bullion for June delivery was $14.70 higher at US$1,299.30 an ounce.