Local jobless rate falls to 4.8%, lowest in the province
By Collin Gallant on October 6, 2018.
Medicine Hat News Local unemployment rate fell in September by all analysis, while in most of the province, the jobless rate rose compared to August, but is well below the rate one year earlier. The rate in Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region sat at 4.8 per cent in September — the lowest in the province. That figure is also down from 5.1 per cent in both August 2018 and September 2017. Alberta’s rate sat at 7 per cent for the recent month, with most centres seeing year-over-year drops, with the exception of Red Deer. Unemployment across Alberta was down from 7.8 per cent a year earlier and led by gains in Edmonton, which at 6.3 per cent is nearly 2 per cent lower than in late 2017. Calgary’s rate was more steady at 8.2 per cent. Wood Buffalo (5.9 per cent) and Camrose-Drumheller (5.2 per cent) also saw large year over year decreases, while Red Deer’s rate was 1.5 per cent higher at 7.2 per cent. Nationally, unemployment fell to 5.9 per cent led by job creation in Ontario and British Columbia. Saskatchewan’s rate rose to 6.4 per cent, and B.C.’s sank to 4.2. 10-9
