Canada’s unemployment rate inched up by 0.1 percentage points to 6.5% in December as more people entered the job market, Statistics Canada said today.

There was little change in employment in December as an increase of 36,000 full-time jobs was offset by part-time losses of 38,000.

The report was weaker than expected. Economists had called for employers to add 20,000 new jobs last month and for the unemployment rate to hold at 6.4%.

Statistics Canada said employment grew during the month by 23,000 in the finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector. Employment in the industry showed little growth over the course of the year despite the December increase.

In professional, scientific and technical services, roughly 21,000 jobs were added, while the public administration sector added 11,000 positions.

For all of 2005, the economy added roughly 233,000 jobs. Statistics Canada said full-time job growth finished the year up 2% while part-time employment slipped 1%.


Alberta finished 2005 with the country’s lowest overall unemployment rate at 3.9%, followed by Manitoba’s 4.1%.

One economist said the latest unemployment report is unlikely to break the Bank of Canada out of its recent cycle of interest rate tightening. “Wages are still running a bit hot for comfort, the jobless rate is still quite low and the underlying trend in employment (especially full-time) remains strong,” said BMO Nesbitt Burns chief economist Sherry Cooper in a commentary.