Red Deer’s unemployment rate rose slightly during the month of April.
The city reported a 10.6 per cent unemployment rate this past month, which is up from 10.2 per cent in March, according to Statistics Canada.
The labour force grew to 121,200 people in April, from 118,100 in March. The city’s overall participation was 68.9 per cent in April, versus 67.2 per cent in March.
Employment also went up – in April it was 108,400 and in March it was 106,100. Full-time employment ticked up to 83,400, from 80,600 in March. Part-time employment saw a small decrease in that time frame, going from 25,500 in March to 25,000 in April.
Provincially, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was nine per cent in April, which is a 0.1 percentage-point decrease from the previous month and a 4.4 percentage points decrease from the same month in 2020.
This rate was the second highest in Canada, behind Newfoundland and Labrador’s 13.9 per cent. The national rate was 8.1 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.
Alberta’s “unemployment rate decreased because the labour force decreased by 17,200 and employment decreased by 12,600 people from the previous month,” the Alberta Labour Force said in its statistics highlight package for April.
“Full-time employment increased by 25,900 while part-time employment decreased by 38,400 over the same period.”
Between April 2020 and April 2021, employment in Alberta has increased by 290,500. The number of unemployed Albertans decreased by 80,500 over the same period.
Year-over-year, employment gains were led by the private sector at 266,200, said the Alberta Labour Force. Public sector employment increased by 34,700 while self-employment decreased by 10,400 over the same period.
This past month, the industries that had the most employment decreases from the previous month were transportation and warehousing (7,400), trade (6,400) and educational services (4,800). Industries that had the most employment gains were manufacturing (7,100), finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (4,800), and other services (2,500).
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