Alberta's 2016/17 budget deficit remains at $10.8-billion.

Finance Minister Joe Ceci revealed the provincial government's third quarter fiscal update Thursday afternoon.

He says it shows higher exports, drilling activity and employment.

There were 199 rigs drilling in January 2017, the highest level since early 2015 while Alberta exports reached $8 billion in December 2016, 47 per cent above the low point in April of last year.

He says employment also grew by 18,000 since bottoming out in July 2016.

“A full economic recovery will take time after such a long downturn, but we are starting to see encouraging signs for Alberta in the year ahead. Some challenges still remain and that’s why we are sticking to our plan of putting Albertans to work by creating good jobs and diversifying our economy," Ceci says. "We will continue to protect the services that Albertans depend on.”

Wildrose leader Brian Jean says the NDP’s budget has seen a $981 million drop in business tax revenues this year despite promising that hiking taxes on businesses would fix Alberta's budget problems.