Unemployment Rate Rises

The economy produced 89,000 more jobs in January, although an influx of job-seekers actually pushed the unemployment rate up to 6.2 per cent, from 6.1 per cent in December. Statistics Canada said booming British Columbia and Alberta produced 56,000 more jobs between them, powering national employment growth. A record 63.4 per cent of working-age Canadians held jobs last month. The statistics agency said the new positions were split equally between full-time and part-time work. Since last October, almost two-thirds of employment increases have been in part-time jobs. Most of the new jobs were in the private sector. Manufacturing jobs, which had been disappearing in recent months, were unchanged in January, as gains in Alberta and Manitoba offset losses in Ontario. The January job increases came in information and recreation, professional and scientific services, hotels and restaurants and natural resources.

British Columbia's 32,000 more jobs came mostly in the service sector, including the skiing industry, where favourable snow conditions had people swarming to the slopes. Alberta's 24,000 new jobs were mostly full-time. The province's unemployment rate was unchanged, however, at 3.3 per cent because of an influx of job-seekers. The province produced 10,000 more jobs in areas such as performing arts, recreation and gambling, as well as 6,000 in manufacturing and 5,000 in natural resources. Ontario's jobless rate rose to 6.4 per cent last month from 6.1 per cent in December as more people went looking for work. While Quebec produced 15,000 jobs, it, too, saw a rise in the overall rate - to 7.7 per cent - as more people sought jobs. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also recorded modest job gains.

Here's what happened provincially (previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland 15.4 (13.8)
- Prince Edward Island 10.7 (12.4)
- Nova Scotia 7.8 (7.3)
- New Brunswick 8.1 (8.5)
- Quebec 7.7 (7.5)
- Ontario 6.4 (6.1)
- Manitoba 4.6 (4.1)
- Saskatchewan 4.1 (4.0)
- Alberta 3.3 (3.3)
- British Columbia 4.3 (5.2)

Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities but cautions the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. (Previous month in brackets.)
-St. John's, N.L. 7.7 (7.5)
-Halifax 4.4 (4.6)
-Saint John, N.B. 5.9 (5.6)
-Saguenay, Que. 9.4 (8.9)
-Quebec 5.8 (6.0)
-Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.3 (4.9))
-Sherbrooke, Que. 7.4 (7.5)
-Montreal 7.5 (7.6)
-Gatineau, Que. 6.3 (6.3)
-Ottawa 5.6 (5.5)
-Kingston, Ont. 5.1 (5.2)
-Toronto 6.6 (6.6)
-Hamilton 6.4 (6.1)
-Kitchener, Ont. 5.7 (5.4)
-London, Ont. 6.1 (6.2)
-Oshawa, Ont. 6.5 (6.7)
-St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 6.3 (6.3)
-Sudbury, Ont. 5.9 (6.2)
-Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.6 (6.7)
-Windsor, Ont. 9.7 (9.0)
-Winnipeg 5.1 (4.8)
-Regina 4.3 (4.4)
-Saskatoon 3.4 (3.3)
-Calgary 2.6 (2.6)
-Edmonton 3.8 (3.7)
-Abbotsford, B.C. 4.2 (4.4)
-Vancouver 4.8 (4.7)
-Victoria 3.2 (3.6)

A quick look at January unemployment (previous month in brackets):
Unemployment rate: 6.2 per cent (6.1)
Number unemployed: 1,096,500 (1,075,300)
Number working:16,729,300 (16,640,400)
Youth (15-24 years) unemployment: 11.7 per cent (11.2)
Men (25 plus) unemployment: 5.3 per cent (5.3)
Women (25 plus) unemployment: 4.9 per cent (5.9)