OTTAWA — The capital region added 2,200 new jobs last month even as long-threatened reductions in public service staffing appeared to finally begin, according to figures released Friday.

The unemployment rate in Ottawa and Gatineau dropped to 6.2 per cent in April from 6.4 per cent a month earlier, Statistics Canada said. Nationally, the rate slipped by 0.1 points to 7.6 per cent, again because of an increase in jobs.

In Ottawa, the biggest addition was in the technology sector, which added a total of 3,300 new positions. The services sector also increased hiring efforts, adding a total of 2,000 jobs that were added to gains made in the accommodation industry as well as in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing.

In public administration, however, the Conservative government appears to be making good on promises to rein in spending. According to Statistics Canada, 4,900 government jobs disappeared during the month, with the sector falling to 170,100 employees in April from 175,000 in March.

The public administration category from Statistics Canada includes jobs for all levels of government, not just federal. However, Barry Nabatian, an analyst with research firm Shore-Tanner & Associates, said he believes the drop in government employment is likely due to federal cuts.

“We knew from several months ago that federal employment was going to go down because the Conservatives have had lots of criticism from across Canada for having increased the public service,” Nabatian said.

“Even after the loss of 4,000 public service jobs, government employment is the highest in the National Capital Region it has ever been. We knew there was going to be attrition and decline and I think it has already started.”

The newly elected majority Conservative government has promised to slash spending by about $4 billion annually. Senior cabinet minister John Baird has said the government’s mandate can be achieved without deep cuts to the federal public service. Instead, the government plans to freeze hiring and not replace federal workers who retire.

Nabatian described a drop in employment in both health care and education jobs in nation’s capital as “surprising” news.

“Everybody always talks about health care, yet so often there are cuts,” he said.

“I don’t think this is going to be a trend because, as you know there, is an (Ontario) election coming in October and they are probably going to pump it up starting in July, August or so.”

According to Statistics Canada more than 3,200 health care jobs were lost in the capital during April, and another 800 disappeared from the education sector.

New jobs created in the region were shared almost equally between Ottawa and Gatineau. Statistics Canada said Ottawa added around 2,000 full-time jobs, while Gatineau lost around 700 full-time positions. However, Ottawa lost around 100 part-time positions in April while Gatineau added 1,300 part-time jobs.

Even as hiring picked up, more people were out looking for work. According to Statistics Canada, the number of people eligible to work in the capital increased to 739,700 from 738,300 one month earlier.

Nationally, Canada added 58,000 jobs to its workforce in April, Statistics Canada reported.

Most of the new jobs last month were part-time, the federal agency said.

Since April 2010, the workforce has grown 1.7 per cent — an additional 283,000 jobs.

“There were gains in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing as well as in business, building and other support services in April,” Statistics Canada said in its report. “Employment was essentially unchanged in the other industries.”

With files from Postmedia News