Local job rate better but still tops in Alberta

By Medicine Hat News on March 13, 2021.

The unemployment rate in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region declined slightly in February from January to sit at 11.1 per cent, based on estimates, but is still one of the highest in the province.

The figure for the trading region is down from 11.4 per cent to start the year, but two and a half times higher than the 4.6 per cent record in February 2020.

At that point, the jobless rate rose dramatically as pandemic protocols cut deeply into economic activity.

The rate dipped lower into the 8 per cent range in the August to October time frame before rising again and reaching a localized high in January.

In February in Alberta, only Edmonton’s rate of 11.5 per cent was higher in Alberta than deep southern Alberta.

Alberta Jobs Ministry says the addition of 17,000 jobs in the province over the month is positive.

“It’s not time to pop champagne corks, but this is hopefully the beginning of a bounce-back for Alberta’s economy and job market,” said Minister Doug Schweitzer.

Calgary’s rate rose slightly in the monthly comparison to 10.5 per cent, and the provincial average stayed about level at 10.7 per cent.

In southwest Saskatchewan, the rate in Swift-Current Moose Jaw region dropped one-10th of a point to 6.4 per cent in February. Saskatchewan’s rate was 7.7 per cent and the national rate 8.2 per cent.

Figures are based on estimates from Statistics Canada provided by Alberta Labour to the News.

For a second straight month the ministry did not provide a three-month adjusted average for regions, citing data presentation changes from the federal agency.

Statistics Canada says the economy added 259,000 jobs in February, almost wiping out losses sustained over the previous two months.

The economy lost almost 213,000 jobs in January as lockdown measures erased months of gains, and marked the worst monthly declines since last April.

February’s reopenings reversed that drop with gains largely in Ontario and Quebec, and in sectors highly affected by tightened public health restrictions.

The national unemployment rate fell to 8.2 per cent, the lowest level since March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and down from the 9.4 per cent recorded in January.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate would have been 10.7 per cent in February had it included in calculations Canadians who wanted to work but didn’t search for a job.

The figures blew past expectations of a gain of 75,000 and an unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.

CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes writes that the quick turnaround in jobs numbers is reminiscent of the first wave of the pandemic when employment rebounded far faster than expected as the economy began reopening.

However, he says in a note that the labour market has a long way to get back to where it was prior to COVID-19.

The gains now leave the country 599,100 jobs short of where they were in February of last year, or 3.1 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

The federal government is keeping a close eye on the labour market, suggesting it will use jobs as a gauge for planned stimulus measures to be unveiled in a spring budget.

So too is the Bank of Canada monitoring employment, noting the uneven impacts of job losses in its reasoning this week for holding its key policy rate at 0.25 per cent.

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