VANCOUVER, Oct. 9 -- The western province of British Columbia recorded the biggest job increase across Canada in September, a gain which was seen by provincial officials as the result of economic stimulus plan, according to the latest employment figures released on Friday.

   
About 14,000 jobs were added during September, pushing the provincial unemployment rate down to 7.4 percent, a decline of nearly half a percentage point, Statistics Canada said in the September Labor Force Survey.

   
The biggest increases were in manufacturing and construction sectors, which saw 5900 people and 4000 people hired respectively in September.

   
The survey shows that employment in B.C. has been increasing since March 2009 with 30,000 new jobs having been created, although down 1.7 percent since October 2008.

   
B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen said the increase is mostly due to the public projects that are part of the government's economic stimulus plan, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

   
He suggested that the economic indicators have been good and there is more reason to be optimistic about the economic turnabout.