LETHBRIDGE, AB – This area experienced a jump in unemployment last month.
Stats Canada says the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region had a jobless rate of 6.5% in December. That’s a full percent increase from the month before.
We no longer have the lowest unemployment rate in the province, that now sits with Edmonton at 6.1%.
Provincially, the Alberta jobless rate dipped slightly to 7.3% and Canada-wide, the rate fell to 5.9%.
Employment coast-to-coast rose by 55,000 in December, driven by gains in the goods-producing sector. Job growth across the country was fuelled mainly by full-time positions.
Alberta Jobless Rate by Region in December 2021
Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 6.5%
Camrose-Drumheller: 8.8%
Calgary: 7.6%
Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House: 6.4%
Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 6.4%
Red Deer: 6.4.%
Edmonton: 6.1%
Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 6.9%