LETHBRIDGE, AB – A slight drop in the local unemployment rate last month.
Stats Canada says the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat rate fell about a half-a-percent to 5.3% in October from 5.7% in September. That leaves this region with, by far, still the lowest jobless rate in the province.
Our current rate is nearly half that in Camrose, which has the highest unemployment rate in the province right now.
Alberta’s overall jobless rate fell just a tad to 7.6% last month. That’s a bit of good news.
Across the country, Canada’s national jobless rate fell to 6.7% in October. The country added 31,000 jobs coast-to-coast, mostly in retail. Canada returned to a pre-pandemic employment levels in September.
Alberta Jobless Rate by Region in October 2021
Lethbridge-Medicine Hat:Â 5.7%
Camrose-Drumheller: 10.2%
Calgary: 8.2%
Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House: 7.1%
Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 7.1%
Red Deer: 7.8.%
Edmonton: 7.7%
Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 6.2%