The Red Deer area's unemployment rate experienced a slight increase last month.
The region's unemployment, unadjusted for seasonality, was 6.9 per cent in November, compared to 6.6 per cent in October and 7.9 per cent in November 2023.
Employment decreased by about 900 and the labour force dropped by about 500 from October to November, according to statistics released by Statistics Canada on Friday, Dec. 6.
Red Deer's unemployment rate was the third highest among Alberta's economic region. Edmonton reported the highest rate at 7.4 per cent, followed by Calgary at 7.3 per cent, Lethbridge-Medicine Hat at 6.2 per cent, Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake at 5.8 per cent, Camrose-Drumheller at 4.3 per cent, and Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River at four per cent.
Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in November, which was up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month and up 1.6 percentage points from the same month last year. Alberta's unemployment rate was the fourth highest in Canada. The national unemployment rate, at 6.8 per cent, was 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous month.
The province's labour force increased by 31,400 to 2,776,000 in November. The number of labour force participants increased among 15- to 24-year-olds (+4,600), 25- to 54-year-olds (+24,000), and people aged 55 years and over (+2,800). Month-over-month, employment increased by 24,300. Employment grew for 15- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 54-year-olds and fell among people aged 55 years and over.
From October to November, employment increased in the public sector (+8,800) and among the self-employed (+18,000) and decreased in the private sector (-2,600). On a year-over-year basis, private sector employment grew by 69,600 and public sector employment increased by 5,200.
Employment rose in 12 out of 16 industries compared to the previous month. The industries with the most employment gains were: wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; and transportation and warehousing.
On a year-over-year basis, employment increased the most in: occupations in education, law and social, community and government services; natural and applied sciences and related occupations; and management occupations.
