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covid's third wave hits job market

Red Deer unemployment rate 10.6% for April

May 7, 2021 | 9:36 AM

The unemployment rate for the Red Deer region for the month of April was 10.6 per cent.

That’s an increase from 10.2 per cent in March and is tied with Edmonton for the highest regional unemployment rate in the province.

Edmonton: 10.6 per cent (11.3 in March)

Red Deer: 10.6 per cent (10.2)

Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House-Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 9.8 per cent (10.0)

Calgary: 9.7 per cent (10.4)

Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 8.7 per cent (9.5)

Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 7.8 per cent (9.1)

Camrose-Drumheller: 7.6 per cent (9.1)

The provincial unemployment rate fell slightly from 9.1 per cent in March to 9.0 per cent in April due to a large number of Albertans (17,200) leaving the labour force and, in turn, not being counted as “unemployed” rather than a rise in the number of jobs.

“With the third wave of the virus still in play in May, the employment situation in Alberta is likely to get somewhat worse before it gets better,” suggests ATB Financial.

The Alberta economy shed 12,600 jobs in April for a drop of 0.6 per cent. Part-time jobs decreased by 8.7 per cent (38,400) while full-time jobs increased by 1.4 per cent (25,900).

The numbers reflect labour market conditions during the week of April 11 to 17, just after the province reinstated a number of public health restrictions, including a ban on indoor dining at restaurants and indoor group fitness activities at gyms.

Nationally, Canada lost 207,100 jobs in April for a drop of -1.1 per cent. The national unemployment rate increased, going from 7.5 per cent in March to 8.1 per cent in April.

Statistics Canada says the combination of COVID-19 variants and rising cases last month undid most of the economic progress in March.

The agency says the economy lost 207,000 jobs because of renewed public health restrictions that closed businesses.

The unemployment rate rose to 8.1 per cent from 7.5 per cent in March.

The losses in April nearly wiped out the 303,000 jobs added in March.

(Story written with file from The Canadian Press and ATB Financial)