For the first time in five months, the unemployment rate in western Alberta has gone up. It rose 0.6 percentage points from November to 6.2 per cent last month. That’s still 1.3 per cent lower than last December and the lowest in Alberta.
Province-wide the news is more positive as the rate dropped from 9 per cent to 8.5. November was the highest rate seen since 1994.
Over the past 12 months, employment across the province went down by 19,000, with notable declines in manufacturing, natural resources, and information, culture and recreation. At the same time, services like repair and maintenance and public information saw a boost. The number of people searching for work went up by 40,000 pushing the unemployment rate up 1.5 per cent overall.