Red Deer region’s employment picture is improving.
The jobless rate dropped to 5.4 per cent last month, from 6.4 per cent in October. Unemployment still remains higher than a year ago, when the rate was five per cent.
Red Deer unemployment is in the middle of the pack among the province’s seven regions, according to Alberta Labour Force statistics released Friday.
Lethbridge-Medicine Hat had the lowest unemployment at 3.9 per cent, and Calgary the highest at 7.5 per cent. The others are Camrose-Drumheller (6.9 per cent), Edmonton (5.6 per cent), Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake (5.3 per cent) and Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River (4.6 per cent).
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The provincial unemployment rate was 6.3 per cent, the highest among the western provinces and above the national average of 5.6 per cent.
B.C. had the country’s lowest unemployment at 4.4 per cent, followed by Quebec at 5.4 per cent. They were followed by Saskatchewan (5.5 per cent), Ontario (5.6 per cent), Manitoba (5.7 per cent), Nova Scotia (seven per cent), NewBrunswick (7.9 per cent), Prince Edward Island (8.5 per cent) and Newfoundland (12.2 per cent).
A year ago, the national unemployment rate was 5.9 per cent.