There were 1,920 people in Prince George collecting Employment Insurance, according to the latest update from Statistics Canada.
Year-over-year, the number represents a 440-person increase and corresponds with a trend that saw the city's unemployment rate rise to 6.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent over that time
Also over that time, the number of people holding down jobs declined to 47,200 from 51,400, while the number of unemployed people seeking work rose to 3,100 from 2,200 and the number of working-age people unemployed and not seeking work rose to 21,600 from 17,800.
There have been worse Decembers in recent memory. In 2009, the count reached 3,260 people on EI as the city's unemployment rate climbed to a five-year high of 13.6 per cent.
And in December 2012, the total was also 1,920, even though the unemployment rate for that month was at a five-and-a-half year low of 4.2 per cent and 50,000 people were holding down jobs.
Also for that month, the number of people of working age not seeking employment stood at 18,600 and the number of people actively seeking work was 2,200.
