Alberta’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.5 per cent in June, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported on Friday that the rate was up from 6.2 per cent the previous month.

However, the number of jobs in the province moved in a positive direction as 2000 positions were created month-over-month and 33,600 year-over-year.

Nationally, StatsCan said employment rose by 32,000 in June after two consecutive months of little change.

With more people searching for work, the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.0 per cent, across the country, added the federal agency.

“Compared with June 2017, employment increased by 215,000 or 1.2 per cent, with all the growth in full-time work. Over the same period, total hours worked grew by 1.4 per per cent,” it said. “Overall employment was little changed in the first six months of 2018, following notable growth in 2017.”

Respected business writer Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald in various capacities, including 12 years as a senior business writer.

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