[SIZE="3"][B]New Brunswick was the only province to see its unemployment rate go down last month.
The rate improved marginally to sit at [COLOR="Red"]8.6 per cent[/COLOR], down from[COLOR="red"] 8.7[/COLOR].
Lbour Minister Donald Arseneault said he's pleased that 2008 ended on a high note despite the souring global economy.
"Given the current state of the economy, our government will go forward with a balanced approach and decisive actions that will lead our province through this crisis," he said in a statement.
According to Statistics Canada, there are [COLOR="red"]3,100 [/COLOR]more New Brunswickers in the labour force in December compared with the same time last year. New Brunswick's labour force was [COLOR="red"]400,900 [/COLOR]in December.
The news wasn't perfect for the New Brunswick economy, however. There were [COLOR="red"]1,000 [/COLOR]fewer people in the labour force compared to November.
The participation rate also dropped in December to [COLOR="red"]64.7[/COLOR] per cent from [COLOR="red"]64.9[/COLOR] per cent, but it was up from [COLOR="red"]63.5[/COLOR] per cent in December 2007.
Nationally, unemployment increased to[COLOR="red"] 6.6[/COLOR] per cent from [COLOR="red"]6.3[/COLOR] per cent.
In Nova Scotia, the rate jumped by four-tenths of a point to [COLOR="red"]8.2[/COLOR] per cent. In P.E.I., unemployment sits at [COLOR="red"]9.3 [/COLOR]per cent, a full point higher than in November.[/B][/SIZE]

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