A very slight increase in the local unemployment rate last month.
Stats Canada releasing its latest jobs numbers Friday (Mar. 6). The Lethbridge-Medicine Hat jobless rate last month came in at 4.6%, up just a notch from 4.5% in January.
This region though still has, by far, the lowest unemployment rate in Alberta.
From a provincial standpoint, the Alberta unemployment rate was virtually unchanged at 7.2%. There were job gains, however in the province in February, mostly among youth. That accounted for roughly 11,000 positions.
The national picture remained steady as well with the Canadian jobless rate last month coming in at 5.6%. The Canadian economy added around 30,000 net new jobs in February.
Alberta Jobless Rate by Region Jan. 2020
Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 4.6%
Camrose-Drumheller: 6.4%
Calgary: 7.2%
Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House: 6.8%
Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 6.8%
Red Deer: 8.6%
Edmonton: 7.7%
Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 5.8%