A big spike in the unemployment rate in Calgary helped drive consumer confidence in Alberta to a near all-time low last month, according to the Conference Board of Canada's latest index.

The index in Alberta plummeted 15.4 points in October to 38.5, compared to the national figure, which fell 6.3 points to land at 96.7 points.

"Despite strong overall jobs gains and a slight improvement in crude prices last month, consumers — especially those in Alberta — remained apprehensive about spending while the Canadian economy continues adjusting to depressed resource prices and labour market gains remain weak," said the board's national forecast economist, Marc Desormeaux, in his report.

The jobless rate in Calgary jumped over the last two months to reach 9.5 per cent, a full percentage point above the provincial average and the highest of all 33 major metropolitan areas in the country, said Desormeaux.

Full-time jobs still scarce

And while there has been evidence of solid economic growth in Alberta, more than two-thirds of all new jobs are part-time.

The board's monthly Index of Consumer Confidence is compiled from responses to four online questions posed to a random sample of 3,000 Canadian households between Oct. 3 and Oct. 13.

"Consumers in Alberta may be responding to the less stable, shorter-term nature of the work being created in the province," Desormeaux said.

Respondents in Calgary were less likely to have plans to buy a big-ticket item, such as a home or a car and were significantly more pessimistic than people in other parts of Alberta.

Consumer confidence in the Saskatchewan-Manitoba region also tumbled, dropping 9.8 points to 74.1 in October.

British Columbia's index decreased as well, falling 8.7 points to 114.8.

Ontario rate stays flat

Consumers in Ontario are more confident, with the index dropping just slightly from 101.7 to 101.2.

"Ontario's economy has been performing well compared with most other provinces over the past few years, and the province's index has generally remained strong," the report said.

In Quebec, the index fell 9 points to 120, as the province continues to be buoyed by relatively strong jobs growth following years of sluggishness.

The Atlantic region is the only part of the country where consumer confidence seems to be on the rise, driven by new jobs being created in New Brunswick and rising wages in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the board says.