OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian trucking industry saw a dip in jobs in January according to statistics Canada.

The agency released job numbers for the first month of the year showing just under 6,000 jobs were lost from December 2017 to January 2018 in the transportation and warehouse sector.

Despite the slight drop the industry was up by more than 40,000 jobs year-over-year.

These numbers are in line with employment across all sectors in the country, with a loss of more than 88,000 jobs from December 2017, but an increase of more than 6% over the same month in 2017.

Statistics Canada says losses were felt most by those under age 24 and over age 25, and women aged 25-54, while employment by men aged 25-54 went relatively unchanged.

Losses were most heavily felt in Ontario, with a drop of 51,000 jobs – all of them part-time.

While Ontario saw the biggest drop in jobs month-to-month, the unemployment rate remains the highest in the country in Newfoundland and Labrador at 14%.

The unemployment rate remains low nation-wide at 4.9%.