The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Statistics Canada says a boost in the number of people looking for work in December drove the unemployment rate higher at the end of the year. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe quotes the agency saying the economy added 8,200 jobs last month, topping economists' expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 6.8 per cent in December, Statscan said, up from 6.5 per cent in November. The data showed job gains in Ontario and Quebec last month did not keep pace with labour-force growth in both provinces, driving the jobless rate higher in those jurisdictions. Statscan's definition of unemployment captures anyone who is not working but can work and is looking for a job. RBC economist Nathan Janzen said more people entering the labour force is an "encouraging development." While more job seekers can push up the unemployment rate, the increase suggests that Canadians who were on the sidelines of the labour market now feel more optimistic about their ability to find work. Mr. Janzen said what would be more worrying is "if there were a lot of, say, discouraged workers that were giving up their job search." December's job gains were concentrated in full-time work.