Last month’s unemployment rate in Red Deer was lowest the city has recorded in about three and a half years.
Red Deer had an unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent during the month of August, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The last time it dipped to 4.4 per cent was in December 2018.
Red Deer’s unemployment rate for August 2022 was one percentage point lower than it was in July and 5.4 percentage points lower than it was in August 2021.
The Red Deer region, which has a labour force of 108,100, had a participation rate of 60.2 per cent and an employment rate of 57.5 per cent in August. July’s participation rate was higher at 60.6 per cent and the employment rate was slightly lower at 57.3 per cent. The labour force was also narrowly bigger in July by 500 people.
Full-time employment rose to 82,000 in August – full-time employment was 80,200 in July. But part-time employment fell from 22,400 in July to 21,200 in August.
Meanwhile, Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 5.4 per cent in August – the rate in July was 5.1 per cent. Alberta’s participation rate in August remained at 68.8 per cent when compared to the previous month and the employment rate dropped to 65.5 per cent from 65.1 per cent.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was also 5.4 per cent in August, which is the first national rise in seven months. Overall, the economy lost 40,000 jobs last month, Statistics Canada reported in its latest labour force survey.
In July, the national unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent, the lowest rate since comparable data first became available in 1976.
There were fewer workers in construction (-28,000; -1.8 per cent) in August, with the decrease spread across several provinces, led by Alberta (-11,000; -4.6 per cent) and Ontario (-10,000; -1.6 per cent). Despite the monthly decline, employment in construction was 88,000 (+6.2 per cent) higher than in August 2021.
Alberta and Manitoba had the youngest employed population in Canada in August, as younger workers outnumbered older workers by approximately six to five.
—With files from The Canadian Press
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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