Canadian Press File Photo

By Shaun Penner

Unemployment up

Unemployment rate for Grande Prairie, Western Alberta region jumps to 16.5%

Jul 10, 2020 | 9:23 AM

The unemployment rate for the region that includes Grande Prairie jumped yet again amid the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing to 16.5 per cent for the month of June.

The region includes the Peace Country, as well as Jasper, Athabasca, Rocky Mountain House, Banff and Canmore. The June rate is up over two per cent from that in May, when it sat at 14.1 per cent, and nearly triple that of June 2019. The June unemployment rate for the Western Alberta region is the highest in Alberta, just ahead of Edmonton and Calgary.

The unemployment rates, by region, in Alberta for June, 2020 (Photo: Government of Alberta)

The unemployment rate for the Grande Prairie region outpaces both that of the province and the nation. In Alberta, the unemployment rate stood at 15.5 per cent, the same as in May. In Canada, the unemployment rate dropped to 12.3 per cent in June.

Alberta’s provincial unemployment rate is the second highest in Canada behind Newfoundland and Labrador, which had an unemployment rate of 16.3 per cent.

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This comes as the country added nearly one million jobs in June, as businesses forced closed by the pandemic moved to reopen.

Statistics Canada says 953,000 jobs were added last month, including 488,000 full-time and 465,000 part-time positions. In Alberta, more than 91,000 jobs were added in June, while over 17,000 were cut.

Trades and the health care and social assistance sectors saw the biggest gains in Alberta last month, while the manufacturing and professional, scientific and technical services sectors saw the biggest losses.

Employment by industry in Alberta, in 000s, for June 2020, May 2020 and June 2019 (Photo: Government of Alberta)

(With files from the Canadian Press)