The Alberta economy added almost 25,000 jobs in December (+1.0%) according to the latest report from Statistics Canada.

Gains in full-time employment (+41,200) offset losses in part-time work (-16,700).

Despite the growth in employment, increased participation in the labour market kept the provincial unemployment rate steady at 5.8%.

Nationally, 104,000 jobs were added (+0.5%) in December with job numbers up at least slightly in every province except New Brunswick.

Somewhat weaker growth in participation enabled the national unemployment rate to tick down from 5.1% to 5.0%.

The ongoing tightness of the national labour market bolsters the case for the Bank of Canada to continue to raise interest rates.

Today’s trivia question: True or false? The Earth is closest to the sun in January?