For the first time this year, the unemployment rate in western Canada has gone up. It increased 0.8 per cent last month, from 5.1 to 5.9 per cent.
The region that houses Grande Prairie has been on a decline since January 2018, when the rate was back to 5.9 per cent. In April 2017, the unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent.
Province-wide, Alberta’s unemployment rate grew to become the fourth highest in the country at 6.7 per cent. The country overall shed about 1,100 jobs in April, but the average wage grew by 3.6 per cent. That’s the biggest growth since 2012.