OTTAWA — Transportation and warehousing were two sectors of the Canadian economy to see job losses in December, according to Statistics Canada.

Jobs were also lost in manufacturing, building, and public administration, albeit at a slower pace.

These loses were balanced out, however, by employment gains in health care, and professional, scientific, and technical services.

Overall, employment in Canada was unchanged in December following a large bump the previous month, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 8.5 percent.

Analysts had expected 20,000 new jobs to be created in December, following the creation of 79,100 new jobs in November.

Statscan said employment has stabilized over the past nine months, but that the country’s economy has lost 323,000 jobs (-1.9 percent) from an October 2008 peak.

The construction industry, which has suffered along with the declining economy, saw a turnaround with the addition of 30,000 new jobs since March.

The number of self-employed was up 3.3 percent.

And the average hourly wage increased by 2.4 percent, but employees also worked longer hours, the report stated.