By Liam Verster

Unemployment rates

Western Alberta unemployment jumps to 7.1 per cent in March

Apr 9, 2020 | 10:59 AM

The Province has released the Alberta Labour Force Statistics for March 2020, which shows a province-wide increase in the unemployment rate.

The rate for Alberta in March, 2020 was at 8.7 per cent, compared to 7.2 percent in February, 2020, and 6.9 per cent in March, 2019.

Comparing the figures of February and March of 2020, the labour force dropped by 86,900 and the amount of employed Albertans dropped by 117,100. The stats show that, compared to March of 2019, the labour force has decreased by 79,000, and the number of employed people was down by 118,400.

Though the entire Province saw an unemployment rate increase, the area that includes Grande Prairie wasn’t hit very hard. The Three-Month Moving Average for Banff – Jasper – Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca – Grande Prairie – Peace River increased from 6.8 per cent in February to 7.1 per cent in March, 2020.

The hardest hit area was Red Deer, where the rate increased from 8.6 per cent to 10.2 per cent.

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Province-wide, the unemployment rate for youth age 15 to 24 was recorded at 20.6 percent (21.5 per cent of males, and 19.6 per cent of females were unemployed). The unemployment rates for Adults over the age of 25 was at 7.1 per cent (6.7 per cent male, 7.5 per cent female).

The figures released by the Province also include a seasonally adjusted record for employment in industries. In February, 2,329,000 Albertans were employed in all industries, compared to 2,212,800 in March.

The hardest hit industries include Accommodation and Food Services, which was down 43,700 employees, Trade, which was down 27,000 employees, and Health Care and Social Assistance, which saw a loss of 20,100 employees.

Some industries did see an up tick in March compared to February, including Construction, which saw an increase of 5,300 employees, and Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Oil and Gas, which was up 8,700 employees.

In March, Alberta had the fourth highest unemployment rate in the Country at 8.7 per cent. Newfoundland was the highest with 11.7 per cent, followed by Nova Scotia at 9.0, and New Brunswick at 8.8 per cent. The overall unemployment rate for Canada was recorded at 7.8 per cent.

The figures show that Alberta still ranked second for employment in March 2020, at 62.0 per cent, second only to Saskatchewan, which had a 62.6 per cent employment rate.