A slow start to the year as Canadian employment fell by 88,000 jobs in January. On the bright side, the losses were entirely due to declining part-time work while full-time jobs actually grew by 49,000 and total hours worked were up 2.8 per cent. The national unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 points to 5.9 per cent.

In BC, employment was down by 5,100 jobs although full-time employment was up by 4,100 while part-time work declined.   Despite those losses, the level of employment was still 2.5 per cent higher than January last year. The provincial unemployment edged up by 0.2 points in January to 4.8 per cent.