By Jeff Henson

JOBLESS RATE

Unemployment rate for region including Grande Prairie dropped in November

Dec 3, 2021 | 9:00 AM

The unemployment rate for the Western Alberta region, which includes Grande Prairie and the entire Peace Region, fell to 6.7 per cent in November compared to 7.1 per cent in October.

That also marks a significant improvement in year-over-year numbers for the region, which saw a 10.3 per cent jobless rate in November of last year.

Across the province, a little over 15 thousand more people found work in November when compared to the previous month. Despite that, the provincial jobless rate held steady at 7.6 per cent.

That is the fifth-highest rate in the country, with only the four Atlantic provinces having a higher unemployment rate than Alberta.

Nationally, the jobless rate fell to six per cent in November as the economy added 154-thousand jobs.

That’s putting Canada close to the 5.7 per cent unemployment rate seen in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

(With files from the Canadian Press)