New Brunswick's unemployment rate jumps to 9.9%

New Brunswick's jobless rate inched up to 9.9 per cent in May after losing about 900 jobs, according to Statistics Canada.

The monthly labour force report showed the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage pointsfrom April.

The total number of jobs in the province stood at 348,400, which was down by 900.

Part-time jobs took a hit of 1,800 jobs, while 900 full-time jobs were added, in May.

The province's unemployment rate has been hanging around the 10 per cent level for several months.

The jobless rate continuesto be thehighest in northern New Brunswick.

The unemployment level in the Campbellton-Miramichi region was 18 per cent followed by 10.8 per cent in the Fredericton-Oromoctoregion.

The areas with the lowest unemployment rates were: Edmundston-Woodstock (6.9 per cent), Moncton-Richibucto (9.5 per cent) and Saint John-St. Stephen (9.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, Canada's economy added 14,000 jobs in May, a better-than-expected number that pushed the unemployment rate down two points to 6.9 per cent, from 7.1 per cent in April.