Red Deerians continue to get back to work after a couple rough years for the economy.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in the city is 1.5 percentage points lower than it was at this time last year.
Red Deer is sitting at 5.3 per cent unemployment, down from 5.7 per cent in September and 6.8 per cent last October.
Robin Bobocel, Red Deer Chamber of Commerce CEO, said the increasing employment is a good sign for the community.
“We’re really encouraged by these numbers,” said Bobocel. “Any increase in employment for the region is a positive thing - there’s no question about it.”
The provincial unemployment rate for October was 7.5 per cent. Employment rose by 12,000 in Alberta, all in full-time work.
While employment numbers are improving, the unemployment rate hasn’t fully rebounded to what it was in the fall of 2014, which was just before the oil-related downturn. At that time, the unemployment rate in Alberta was 4.4 per cent. The rate was at its highest last November when it hit nine per cent.
“This region has suffered exponentially harder than other regions because of the nature of our economy and our workforce here in Central Alberta.
“But oil and gas tends to get busier this time of year so we’re not too surprised there’s been an increase in employment numbers,” said Bobocel.
Bobocel said the Chamber hopes to see employment continue to rise until it reaches those pre-recession numbers.
“Things are getting better thanks to the resilience of business to adapt to challenging times - I think that’s what we’re seeing here,” he said.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent in October, which is 0.1 per cent higher than September.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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