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The unemployment rate in Calgary hit 10.2 per cent in October despite an increase in Alberta resource-sector jobs and overall employment, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency said the natural resource sector added 7,600 jobs in Alberta, but the province’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.5 per cent for the month of October.

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The gains in the resource sector were part of what StatsCan called “the first notable increase since March 2015” for the sector on the national level. Compared with October 2015, the number of jobs in the sector in Alberta is down 6,100, or four per cent.

Overall employment in Alberta was up by 9,000 jobs (0.4 per cent) for the month, according to the federal agency. However, 8,100 of those jobs were part-time. Job numbers remain well below October 2015 levels, though, down 26,200.

The unemployment rate, however, held steady at 8.5 per cent as the labour force — the number of people working or looking for work — also increased.

Calgary’s unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent was up 0.7 points from September. Statistics Canada notes that unemployment numbers for cities can fluctuate widely as they are based on small statistical samples.

Nationally, the economy gained 44,000 net new jobs — but the Canada-wide gains were entirely in part-time employment.

The overall increase was driven by 67,000 additional part-time jobs for the month, while the number of full-time jobs fell by 23,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at seven per cent as more people entered the labour market.

Economists had expected a loss of 10,000 jobs overall and the unemployment rate to remain unchanged, according to Thomson Reuters.

— With files from The Canadian Press