According to Statistics Canada, one Albertan city's unemployment rate has gone up significantly. The job market in Edmonton is now officially the most unemployed major city in the country. But while the province loses jobs, the provincial government continues keeping optimistic. In Statistics Canada's latest survey, the unemployment rate in Edmonton rose to 8%, gaining 0.3% from November to December 2019. That number places Edmonton firmly in first place for unemployment in Canadian major cities. Second and third place goes to Saint John, New Brunswick and Windsor, Ontario, respectively. Calgary comes in at number five. They're staying hopeful that things will look up soon. To combat unemployment, the provincial government is pushing hard for oil pipelines to be built. "Our government will be relentless in our advocacy with the federal government," said a government spokesperson to CTV News, promising not to rest until they see what they consider to be critical pipeline projects built. However, the NDP opposition in Alberta isn't having it. "All this is happening as TMX is under construction. This Premier’s plan is failing Albertans. Period," wrote NDP economic critic Deron Bilous in a release, according to CTV News. According to CBC, Alberta's net loss of 16,900 jobs in December was due to a drop in oil prices. And, while the province experienced an increase in part-time work, it wasn't enough to compensate. Unfortunately, another bad month for jobs in December. 24,000 full-time jobs were lost and 8,000 people gave up looking for work. Kenney’s $4.7 billion corporate handout clearly isn’t working. #ableg— Deron Bilous (@DeronBilous) January 10, 2020 But it's not all doom and gloom. Unemployment actually fell in Alberta from 7.2 to 7.0% over December, according to Statistics Canada. Even Calgary, which previously held the title of highest unemployment rate in a major Canadian city in February 2019, has fallen from its then rate of 7.6% to 7.1%. Albertans have been going through some tough times. But I truly believe there's reason for optimism and hope as we head into 2020. pic.twitter.com/CNU3V9zUa2— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) January 13, 2020 In a recent tweet, Albertan Premier Jason Kenney said: "I truly believe there's reason for optimism and hope as we head into 2020." While the rest of the country is seeing improvements in their economies and unemployment is going down, the opposite is happening in Alberta. Thanx UCPer's. https://t.co/desyU2JNFU— Leissa Remesoff (@lise2001) January 12, 2020 These last few months have not been kind on Canada, with the nation hitting a low of 5.9% in November. However, throughout December, things started looking up. Going into the new decade, Canada is now among the world's best economies.