Unemployment falls slightly but remains higher than 2024

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on June 7, 2025.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

Local unemployment fell slightly in May but sits at levels much higher than last spring.

The jobless rate in Medicine Hat-Lethbridge economic region sat at 7.2 per cent last month, down one-tenth of a percentage point compared to April, according to figures released Friday by Statistics Canada.

That level sits 1.6 points higher than May 2024.

Across the region, 200 more positions were recorded in the month, though part-time positions (now 33,100) grew compared to full-time (124,500).

The same figures one year earlier were 131,000 full-time and 32,600 part-time jobs.

Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 7.5 per cent led by increases in the south, the Camrose-Drumheller area (up. 1.5 points to 6.3 per cent), the Fort McMurray region (up 0.7, 6.3 per cent), northeastern Alberta (up 1.9, 7.5 per cent). Red Deer (5.9 per cent, was down 1.8 points, while Calgary (8.1 per cent ) was stable and Edmonton (7.3 per cent) was up slightly.

Among the provinces, Saskatchewan posted a 1.1-point decline to sit at the national low of 4.8 per cent. Swift Current-Moose Jaw region (4.6 per cent) was among a number of large regional declines in unemployment.

The Canadian rate was 7 per cent, up 0.7 percentage points year over year.

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