OTTAWA (Reuters) — Canada lost 5,700 jobs in January and the unemployment rate edged up to a two-year high of 7.2 per cent, in part because of further job losses in the oil-producing province of Alberta, underlining the economy's struggles with weak energy prices.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a gain of 5,500 positions and for the unemployment rate to stay at 7.1 per cent. It last hit 7.2 per cent in December 2013.

Statistics Canada said on Friday that in the year to January, employment increased by an anemic 125,500 jobs, or 0.7 per cent.