Canada lost 2,600 jobs in December, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by Statistics Canada. MarketWatch reported that economists had expected a gain of 20,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate was unchanged month-over-month at 8.5%.

Of the jobs lost in December, 2,400 were full time and 200 were part time.

The goods-producing sector lost 12,000 jobs while the services-producing sector gained 9,400 jobs.

Ontario lost 16,600 jobs in December. It gained 2,000 full-time jobs but lost 18,600 part-time jobs. Ontario's unemployment rate was 9.3% in December, unchanged from the previous month.

Saskatchewan posted the lowest jobless rate among all provinces in December at 4.8%.