The city's unemployment rate stood at 7.7 per cent in January, according to Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers.
It represents an increase from 6.7 per cent one year ago and appears to be largely a function of more people seeking work.
The number of people holding down jobs last month was 45,700, just 100 fewer than the same point last year, which those looking for work added up to 3,800, a 900-person increase.
Retired economics instructor Al Idiens said such rises can sometimes be due to greater optimism in the job market but has his doubts this time, given the recent closure of Lowe's at Pine Centre Mall.
Month-over-month, the unemployment rate is up from 6.7 per cent in December. However, Statistics Canada strongly urges against a month-by-month comparison.
Labour market survey numbers are based on a three-month-rolling average and derived from a phone-based survey of about 100,000 people across Canada each month and do not separate part-time from full-time employment.
Accuracy of the January 2020 unemployment rate is plus-or-minus 1.2 percentage points , 68 per cent of the time. That for January 2019 is plus-or-minus 0.6 per cent and for December 2020, it is plus-or-minus 1.1 per cent.
