LETHBRIDGE, AB – More people were looking for work to start of the New Year off across this region.
Unemployment for the region (Lethbridge-Medicine Hat) sits at 11.4%, according to data provided to us by Economic Development Lethbridge and later updated by Statistics Canada.
Locally, that’s an increase of almost a full percent from December 2020. The numbers here suggest around 1,800 job losses across the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region last month.
However, when you take Medicine Hat out from the equation, the jobless rate in just the Lethbridge Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) drops considerably.
That puts the Lethbridge CMA rate at 7.7%. The CMA includes only the City of Lethbridge, Lethbridge County, Coaldale, Barons, Nobleford, Coalhurst, & Picture Butte.
Across the country, Canada’s jobless rate increased last month to 9.4%, the highest it’s been since last August.
Here in Alberta, things were a bit better on the jobs front for the first time in four months with all the job gains in January in part-time work, mainly in the construction sector.
This province’s jobless rate though still sits at around 10.7% despite the tiny improvement.
Alberta Jobless Rate by Region in January 2021
Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 11.4%
Camrose-Drumheller: 10.0%
Calgary: 10.3%
Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House: 9.9%
Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 9.9%
Red Deer: 9.1%
Edmonton: 11.5%
Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 9.3%