Canada's job market was in the doldrums in the fourth quarter of 2011, official data confirmed Friday morning. Following two months of declines, payrolls increased by about 18,000 in December, according to Statistics Canada. However, full-time employment was down, and the unemployment rate edged up to 7.5 percent as more people were actively looking for work. Economists predicted the unemployment rate would stay at 7.4 percent. It was the tale of two halves last year -- employment growth totaled 1.2 percent (+199,000) in 2011, with nearly all of the gains in the first half of the year. The pace of the yearly increase was slower that the 1.8 percent rise seen in 2010. In December, an increase of 43,000 in part-time work was partially offset by a decline of 26,000 in full-time employment. There were notable employment gains in manufacturing for the month, while there were declines in utilities. All other industries showed little employment change.