By Sheldon Spackman

Trending Downward

Red Deer region’s unemployment rate continues lower

Oct 8, 2021 | 1:10 PM

The Red Deer economic region saw a drop in its unemployment rate last month.

According to the latest Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada on Friday, the region had an unemployment rate of 9.0 per cent in September, down from 9.8 per cent in August and 12.4 per cent in September 2020.

That compares with an unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent in both the Calgary and Camrose-Drumheller regions last month, 8.3 per cent in Edmonton, 7.1 per cent in Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River, 6.1 per cent in Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake, and 5.7 per cent in Lethbridge-Medicine Hat.

Alberta’s unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent in September, down from 8.8 per cent in August, and down significantly from 12.4 per cent in September 2020.

The national jobless rate was 7.3 per cent last month, down from 7.7 per cent in August and 10.3 per cent in September 2020.

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The Red Deer region’s employment rate was 59.9 per cent in September, down from 60.9 per cent in August, but up from 59 per cent in September 2020.

Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer issued the following statement about the September 2021 Labour Force Survey:

“There is still work to be done, but Statistics Canada had good news for Alberta today, with a third straight month of job growth. Alberta added 19,600 new jobs in September, continuing our economic rebound. We’ve now recovered all of the jobs lost since the beginning of the pandemic.

“In addition, this week we saw one of the largest proposed investments in our province’s history from Dow Chemical. Their announcement of the world’s first net-zero petrochemical plant shows that Alberta is diversifying our economy and is a global leader in emissions reduction.

“We also saw Enbridge’s Line 3 come online, which has led to higher levels of energy exports. Last week was only the third time in recorded history that Alberta exported four million barrels of oil a day to the United States.

“Alberta’s Recovery Plan will continue to diversify today for jobs tomorrow. This year we have seen our film sector double in investment, our tech sector continues to grow rapidly and new momentum in our oil and gas industry. Alberta has a bright economic future.”

Meantime, NDP Finance Critic Shannon Phillips issued the following statement regarding the release of September’s job numbers by Statistics Canada:

“While September’s job figures are encouraging news, there are still serious concerns about the health of Alberta’s job market and economy.

“The UCP government’s failure to prepare for the fourth wave of the pandemic is hurting business and consumer confidence, as Calgary faces the second-lowest business activity in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

“Alberta’s unemployment rate remains significantly higher than the national average and is the highest outside of the Atlantic provinces. The UCP still needs to recover the 50,000 full-time jobs that were lost before the pandemic struck our province when their corporate tax handout failed to create a single job.

“We need a plan for Alberta’s future that makes real investments in economic diversification and makes it a priority, not failed corporate handouts and platitudes.”