By Liam Verster

Unemployment rates

Unemployment rate for Peace Region increases to 14.1%

Jun 5, 2020 | 11:44 AM

The area that includes the Peace Region saw the unemployment rate jump by four percent in May, compared to April of 2020.

The unadjusted, three month moving average unemployment rate for Banff – Jasper – Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca – Grande Prairie – Peace River increased to 14.1 per cent in May 2020, compared to 10.1 per cent in April 2020. It’s also a significant increase from May 2019, when the unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent.

The spike in unemployment is the largest in the province, followed by Edmonton, which saw a 3.7 per cent increase, Calgary, with a 2.4 per cent increase, and Lethbridge – Medicine Hat, where the rate rose 2.2 per cent.

The unemployment rate for the area that encompasses the Peace Region is the highest in Alberta, followed by Edmonton (13.8 per cent), Calgary (13.2 per cent) and Red Deer (12.7 per cent).

Photo provided by the Government of Alberta

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The figures for May show that, Province-wide, there were 1,997,200 people employed, and 365,100 unemployed. Alberta’s unemployment rate increased from 13.4 per cent in April to 15.5 per cent in May, 2020, compared to 6.7 per cent in May, 2019.

Province wide, Alberta’s labour force saw a slight increase, from 2,273,300 in April to 2,362,300 in May. Though that’s still well below the 2,525,100 mark for May 2019.

Table provided by the Government of Alberta

While most industries have seen declines in employment, others have seen slight increases in the past two months. Trades is up 9,500 employees, there are 7,200 more Albertans working in Transportation and Warehousing, Health Care and Social Assistance has 4,200 more employees than they did in April, and Manufacturing has seen a growth of 3,200 employees. The number of employees in all of Alberta has increased by 28,200 between April and May 2020.

Overall, Alberta’s Employment rate for May, 2020, was 55.9 per cent in May, the third highest in the country, behind Saskatchewan (56.8 per cent) and Manitoba (56.2 per cent).

The Unemployment Rate in Alberta, however, is at 15.5 per cent, and second only to Newfoundland and Labrador who has the highest unemployment rate in Canada at 16.3 per cent.

Graphic provided by the Government of Alberta