Unemployment in the Medicine Hat region has doubled from very low levels in early 2023, according to the latest jobs report from Statistics Canada, released Friday.--News Photo Collin Gallant
@MedicineHatNews
The jobless rate in rural southern Alberta has doubled compared to extremely low rates one year ago.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that the unemployment rate for the Medicine Hat-Lethbridge region sat at 7.4 per cent in January, twice the rate of 3.7 per cent recorded in early 2023.
That current rate is also the second highest in the province, behind Red Deer’s 8.2 per cent, and above the province-wide rate of 6.2 per cent.
Calgary’s rate fell to 5.7 per cent in the recent figures, while Edmonton’s rose by more than one point to 6.9 per cent.
Northern Alberta’s rates were 4.7 and 4.8 per cent in Grande Prairie and Ft. McMurray, respectively. Camrose-Drumheller rose but remained low at 4.1 per cent.
Nationally, the rate rose to 5.6 per cent, while Manitoba (4.1) and Saskatchewan (4.8) posted the lowest rates.
The specific rate in the Swift Current-Moose Jaw region was 5.0 per cent, up 0.9 percentage points from 12 months earlier.
