The unemployment rate for area has experienced a slight decrease. Fizkes/Dreamstime

By Sheldon Spackman

ECONOMY

Unemployment rate in Lethbridge-Medicine Hat drops slightly to 6.2% in November

Dec 6, 2024 | 12:33 PM

The area of Lethbridge-Medicine Hat’s unemployment rate dropped slightly month-over-month to 6.2 per cent in November, according to new federal data released Friday.

It marks a decrease from the 6.8 per cent rate reported in October but is still higher than the 6.1 per cent in September. The rate in August was 5.4 per cent and in July it was 5.2 per cent.

The Red Deer region saw a rise in its unemployment rate last month, increasing from 6.6 per cent in October to 6.9 per cent in November.

Edmonton had the highest unemployment rate in the province last month, coming in at 7.4 per cent, while Calgary was right behind at 7.3 per cent.

Camrose-Drumheller’s unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent in November, while the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River area saw a jobless rate of 4.0 per cent last month.

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Alberta’s unemployment rate, meantime, came in at 6.8 per cent in November, down from 7.2 per cent in October but still well up from 5.3 per cent in November last year.

The national jobless rate was 6.1 per cent last month, down from 6.5 per cent in October but still up from 5.3 per cent in November 2023.

Employment rose a solid 50,500 (+0.2%) in Canada last month following a tepid 14,500 (+0.1%) gain in October, driven by gains in Alberta and Quebec, according to ATB Economics.

The financial institution says the job gains were highly concentrated in the public sector (+45K) and entirely comprised of new full-time positions (+54.2K).