STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
By Liam Verster
9.8 % unemployment

Grande Prairie area sees unemployment rate drop slightly in February

Mar 12, 2021 | 11:51 AM

Data from Statistics Canada shows the unemployment rate for the economic region that includes Grande Prairie dropped to 9.8 per cent in February .

The rate for Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca – Grande Prairie- Peace River (Western Alberta), which has not been adjusted for seasonality, is down from 9.9 per cent in January, but still well above the 6.9 per cent rate recoded in January of 2020.

The employment rate for the region increased to 63.5 per cent, which is the first increase since October, when the rate rose to, and stayed flat at, 62.9.

Part-time employment meanwhile saw a slight decline on a month-over-month basis, falling from 32 per cent in January to 30.9 in February.

The Western Alberta region’s unemployment rate was the third lowest in the province, behind Camrose-Drumheller (9.5 per cent) and Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake (9.4).

Alberta as a whole saw the unadjusted unemployment rate climb a tenth of a per cent to 10.7 in February, meaning the Wild Rose province has the second highest rate in the country, behind Newfoundland and Labrador (14.7).

Alberta rate is also above the national average, which was recorded at 8.8 per cent in February.

by Liam Verster