Stephen Harper says the numbers - which showed that Canada lost 2,600 jobs in December - indicate that more needs to be done to improve the economy.

But Harper says he believes the economy will recover this year.

Employment is down 323,000 from the peak of October 2008, with 240,000 of those losses in the past year and the vast majority in Ontario's battered manufacturing sector.

The biggest disappointment was that Canada's economy failed to deliver on the promise of sustained gains that many had thought likely following November's teasing 79,000 pickup.