Unemployment Rate (Image Credit: (rdnewsNOW file photo))

By rdnewsNOW staff

6.1 per cent

Red Deer region unemployment rate drops in December

Jan 9, 2026 | 10:51 AM

The Red Deer region’s unemployment rate saw a drop in December to 6. 1 per cent.

That’s according to the latest Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada on Jan. 9, 2026.

According to the report, that’s down from a jobless rate of 7.3 per cent in November 2025, and 7.7 per cent in December 2024.

The Red Deer region’s employment rate, meantime, was 65.1 per cent in December while it’s participation rate was 69.3 per cent.

The highest unemployment rate in Alberta last month was in Edmonton, which had a jobless rate of 6.9 per cent in December.

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Elsewhere, the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake economic region had an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent. Calgary’s jobless rate was 6.4 per cent. Lethbridge-Medicine Hat had a jobless rate of 6.3 per cent in December, while Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River had an unemployment rate of 5.0 per cent last month. The lowest jobless rate was in the Camrose-Drumheller region at 4.5 per cent.

Provincially, Alberta’s unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month but at par with the national rate of 6.8 per cent.

There were 2,630,900 people employed in Alberta, a decrease of 13,700 (-0.5 per cent) from the previous month, and an increase of 58,200 (+2.3 per cent) compared to December 2024.

Other key highlights:

• Month-over-month, employment decreased in the private sector (-4,500) and in the public sector (-4,100) and among the self-employed (-5,000).
• Full-time employment decreased by 4,800 and part-time employment fell by 8,800 from the previous month.
• The largest monthly employment gains were in health care and social assistance (+13,000); manufacturing (+2,700); and public administration (+1,900).
• The largest monthly employment decreases were in accommodation and food services (-8,300); information, culture and recreation (-5,400); and construction (-4,700).INDIGENOUS STATISTICS:
  • In December 2025, the unemployment rate for Indigenous peoples living off reserve in Alberta was 9.0%. This is down 0.7 percentage points from November and down 1.4 percentage points from the same month last year.
  • Employment rose among men aged 15-24 (+600) and 55+ (+1,000), fell among women aged 15–24 (−600) and 25–54 (−800) and men aged 25-54 (−600), and was unchanged for women aged 55+.
  • Between November and December 2025, employment increased most in educational services (+1,400); information, culture and recreation (+1,100); and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (+900).

  NOTE: Historical LFS data was revised in January 2025. This might result in slight changes in historical LFS results compared to previous reports.