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Alberta’s unemployment numbers up in October

The latest jobs report from Statistics Canada’s pegs Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 6.7 per cent in October, up from 6.6 per cent in September.
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The latest jobs report from Statistics Canada’s pegs Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 6.7 per cent in October, up from 6.6 per cent in September.

The unemployment rate remains two percentage points higher than the average rate in 2014 before the downturn.

The total number of jobs in the province increased by 7,700 in October, but this was well below the growth in the labour force, which grew by 11,200.

The number of full-time jobs increased by 14,400 (0.7 per cent), while part-time employment fell by 6,700 (a decrease of 1.6 per cent).

The number of Albertans without a job and actively seeking work increased by two per cent in October, rising to 169,600.

The stubbornly high rate of unemployment in the province is rooted in the ongoing barriers to growth in the energy sector and the negative ripple effects this has on other sectors of the economy.

The national unemployment rate remained at 5.5 per cent in September, with total job growth essentially flat.



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