Canada’s unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis. It now sits at 5.7 per cent, while Alberta’s dropped half a per cent from March to April to 7.9 per cent.
In the western Alberta economic region that houses Grande Prairie, the unemployment rate last month was 7.3 per cent. That’s half a per cent lower than a month earlier, and the lowest it’s been since January.
Statistics Canada data from across the country shows less young people were looking for work in April, as the jobless rate for those between 15 and 24 years old is also at its lowest level since 2008. The amount of jobs in Canada has gone up in eight of the last night months.
Despite that, the federal agency says wage growth has fallen to a record low. Hourly wage growth was held to 0.7 per cent in the month of April, lower than compared to a year earlier. It means the cost of living in Canada has gone up nearly three times faster than worker’s pay increases.