Unemployment in the Red Deer region fell sharply in July, hitting its lowest level in nearly a year.
Statistics Canada calculated the local jobless rate last month at five per cent. That’s down 1.4 percentage points from June, when the Red Deer area had the highest rate in the province.
A year ago, the Red Deer region’s unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent.
Only the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House area and the Camrose-Drumheller region had lower unemployment rates than Red Deer this July, at 2.7 and 4.2 per cent respectively. Edmonton came in at 5.4 per cent, Lethbridge-Medicine Hat was 5.6 per cent, Calgary and Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake were both 5.7 per cent, and Athabasca-Grande Prairie was 5.9 per cent.
Across the province, the unemployment rate averaged 5.5 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in June. Only Saskatchewan had a lower provincial rate in July, at 4.9 per cent. The national figure was 7.2 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points.
Alberta Employment and Immigration spokesperson Terry Jorden pointed out that the Statistics Canada figures are based on surveys of a relatively small number of people in each region. Unemployment stats over a number of months provide a better indication of what the true jobless rate is, he added.
“Month-to-month changes, we don’t put too much emphasis on.”
Alberta Employment and Immigration said in a release that the province’s labour force grew by 11,800 from June to July, and employment by 12,400. Employment gains were greatest in the construction, transportation and warehousing, and educational services sectors.