WINNIPEG -- Manitoba added more jobs in June as the province continued its reopening strategy, according to Statistics Canada.

The agency said between May and June, there were 28,900 more positions, which included about 14,800 full-time jobs and 14,200 part-time jobs. 

Scott Fielding, the province's finance minister, said as part of the numbers Manitoba is leading the way with employing students.

He said over 8,000 students have jobs right now and he added that is due to the programs the government currently has in place.

"What the survey is showing is that Manitoba is going to lead the nation in the youth unemployment rate," said Fielding.

Two weeks before the forced shutdown in March, the owner the three Bare Body Sugaring locations in Winnipeg closed its doors and temporarily let go of 20 employees.

"It was a hard decision, but we felt it was our responsibility to help flatten the curve," Clairissa Cruz, the owner of Bare Body Sugaring told CTV News.

Cruz said with the economy reopening, she was able to return to a full complement last month, bringing back 14 employees and hiring on six new employees.

The province’s unemployment rate fell to 10.1 per cent in June after reaching 11.2 per cent in May 2020.

Fielding said despite seeing some positive numbers, there are still too many people who are unemployed due to COVID-19.

"For the most part we lost about 90,000 jobs during the COVID, I guess I will call period or shutdown, that's there and we have over 42,000 that have come back online," said Fielding. "I want to be perfectly clear though, that is not an acceptable number to us until we have the type of employment that we were prior to COVID. Again these are positive steps."

Fielding also mentioned that there could be a chance more programs could come into effect to help Manitobans get back to work, but that probably won't be evaluated until the fall.

Manitoba’s numbers are in line with what is being seen across the rest of the country.

Statistics Canada is reporting the Canadian economy added 953,000 jobs last month – 488,000 full-time and 465,000 part-time.

In May, Canada’s unemployment rate reached a record-high of 13.7 per cent, but dropped to 12.3 per cent in June.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont feels the government's Labour Force Survey is misleading.

"The PC's numbers don't add up – their own numbers show that Manitoba is seventh out of ten provinces in terms of jobs added. In Winnipeg, unemployment is actually up by 13%," said Lamont in an emailed release.

Lamont said nearly 250,000 Manitobans signed up for the federal government's CERB program, but a very small amount of people have gone back to work.

He added the unemployment results are dismal and said it's because the PCs aren't doing what it takes to help people and businesses through the pandemic.

"There is absolutely no question that the job numbers are worse than the PCs are letting on because Statistics Canada does not measure unemployment on First Nations, which have been hit incredibly hard."

Lamont feels there are steps the government could take right now to help Manitobans such as support for childcare and for Manitoba businesses to cover overhead costs.

"There are actual states of emergency in the province that could be solved with provincial investment, such as in Western Manitoba. The PCs are sitting on a Rainy Day Fund while Manitobans are getting crushed."

The NDP opposition said the provincial government shouldn't be patting themselves on the back. They said the numbers are a product of reopening and not the province's aid programs.

"They are convoluted. They're hard to apply for, they don't cover many people and we see there's been very little take-up," said Mark Wasyliw, who is the MLA for Fort Garry.

- With files from The Canadian Press.