Graphic Courtesy of Statics Canada

By Liam Verster

Job Stats

Economic region that includes Grande Prairie sees slight drop in unemployment in September

Oct 9, 2020 | 9:19 AM

The economic region that includes Grande Prairie and Peace River saw a 0.9 per cent decrease in unemployment figures between August and September.

New figures released by Statistics Canada shows that the Banff – Jasper – Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca – Grande Prairie – Peace River economic region recorded an unemployment rate of 11.2 per cent in September 2020, compared to 12.1 per cent in August. However, that figure is still much higher that the 5.9 per cent recorded in September 2019.

The decrease in unemployment wasn’t the largest in the province. The Calgary area saw a 1.7 per cent month-over-month decrease, Edmonton’s unemployment dropped 1.1 per cent, and the Camrose – Drumheller area saw a one per cent decrease.

Graphic courtesy of Statistics Canada

The figures from Statistics Canada also shows Alberta’s labour force increased by 24,000 in September, and the amount of employed Albertans increased by 39,000. However, the amount of unemployed Albertans also increased by 2,800, and the current unemployment rate for the province as a whole is 11.7 per cent. That’s just 0.1 per cent less that the rate recorded in August 2020, and still well below the 6.6 per cent recorded in September 2019.

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With the new, seasonally adjusted figures, Alberta’s employment rate is now at 61.5 per cent, which is higher than the national average (59.1 per cent), and third highest among other provinces (63.2 per cent in Saskatchewan and 62.3 per cent in Manitoba).

However, the unemployment rate is still the second highest in the Country, second only to Newfoundland and Labrador (14.8 per cent), and well above the national average (9.0 per cent).

Graphic courtesy of Statistics Canada