Canada’s economy picked up 29,400 jobs last month.

As a result the unemployment rate fell 0.2 per cent to an even 7 per cent.

Statistics Canada says the gain was led by an increase in full-time work, including 15-thousand more employed in transportation and warehousing and a rise in self-employed workers.

South of the border, 113,000 jobs were created in January, a disappointing result that could rattle financial markets.

The Federal Reserve last month opted to push ahead with its careful reversal of monetary stimulus, expressing confidence that the labour market was on the mend.

The Labor Department’s latest report card on the state of hiring calls that into question.

Most on Wall Street were expecting an increase of around 180,000.

The U.S. labour market now has underperformed for two consecutive months after creating more than 200,000 jobs in three of the previous four months.

The unemployment rate dropped 0.1 per cent to 6.6 in December.