The unemployment rate for Red Deer region and the number of people receiving employment insurance in Red Deer have gone down in the last year.
The downward trend is at par with the province.
The number of regular employment insurance beneficiaries in Red Deer in December 2017 were 1,440 when unemployment rate for the region was 5.5 per cent.
In November 2016, the number of people who received unemployment insurance was 3,130. In December of the same year, unemployment rate for the region was at eight per cent.
Marton Lovei, Statistics Canada recruit analyst, said although the number of beneficiaries and unemployment rate are on a downward trend, there’s no link between the data numbers.
He said the decrease could be because people are going back to work or because they are exhausting their regular benefits – but there’s no way to tell.
Robin Bobocel, CEO at Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce, said there could be one more reason for the downward trend: people leaving the area.
“Employers would like to hire skilled workers but they have left the city or the province,” said Bobocel, after receiving comments from the local business community.
“They’re likely not coming back and that’s due to the uncertainty that’s been created here over the last few years.”
The number of people who received regular employment insurance benefits in Alberta in Nov. 2017 was 63,480 down from 99,140 in Nov. 2016.
Lovei said although there has been a decrease in the level of unemployment in Alberta, we are only now somewhat close to the numbers from the 2008-2009 recession.
Unemployment rate in Alberta was 6.9 per cent in December.
In August 2009, at the peak of the previous recession, unemployment rate in Alberta was 7.3 per cent.
At the peak of the recent oil price shock in Nov. 2016 unemployment rate 9 per cent for Alberta.
Bobocel said the proposed increase in minimum wage in Alberta isn’t helping anybody.
Employers are now not keen on hiring entry level workers or young people. They are hiring people with already developed skills and experience, said Bobocel.
That’s bad news for the younger demographic, he said.
Bobocel said businesses have gotten used to the new normal – making do with less number of employees and embracing new technology.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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