Alberta’s job market shed nearly 17,000 jobs in December, according to the latest figures released Friday by Statistics Canada.
Alberta, which has been hit hard by a drop in oil prices, saw a net decrease last month of 16,900 jobs or 0.7 per cent, compared with November, as an increase in part-time work was far outweighed by a loss of 36,200 full-time positions.
In Edmonton, the unemployment rate was 6.3 per cent in December, up from 6.2 per cent the previous month.
In Calgary, the unemployment rate was 7.6 per cent, down from 7.9 the previous month.
For all of 2018, employment in Alberta rose 0.9 per cent as the province added 21,600 jobs. The provincial unemployment rate fell from seven per cent at the start of 2018 to 6.4 per cent at the end of the year.
All of the gains last year were in full-time jobs and were spread across a variety of industries, Statistics Canada said.
Across the country, the unemployment rate stayed at its 43-year low of 5.6 per cent last month as the economy closed out 2018 with the addition of 9,300 net new jobs.
The jobless rate was at its lowest level since Statistics Canada started measuring comparable data in January 1976.
With files from the Canadian Press