In the past year, the unemployment rate has risen over half a percent, according to information recently released from Statistics Canada.

Since last January, employment increased by 0.7 per cent, with 126,000 more workers, but over the same period of time the unemployment rose by almost the same amount.

With the labour force growing faster than the job market, the unemployment rate rose from 6.6 per cent to 7.2 per cent.

Compared to 12 years ago, full-time work increased by 172,000 (+1.2%) while part time was little changed. Over the same period, the number of hours worked rose by 1.2%.

In January, there were almost 25,000 fewer people 55 and older employed, down for the first time since 2008. Despite the monthly decline, employment for this age group grew by almost 5 per cent, or 170,000, in the 12 months to January, but the population of that age group grew by almost double that.

There are less people working in Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador in January, and Ontario was the lone province with an employment increase.

Employment declined in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and public administration, but there are more information, culture and recreation jobs this year.

Employment in Alberta decreased by 10,000 in January, bringing their year-over-year declines to 35,000. The employment decrease in January raised the unemployment rate in the province to 7.4%, the highest since February 1996, and the first time they’ve been lower than the national rate since December 1988.

Compared with January 2015, the number of public employees increased by 59,000, mostly because of job gains in health care and social assistance.