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The Canadian Press

Jobless rate up last month in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region

Oct 11, 2019 | 9:17 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The latest unemployment numbers have been released by Statistics Canada.

Alberta’s jobless rate for the month of September was listed at 6.6 percent. That’s a decrease from August, when the rate was at 7.2 percent.

In September of 2018, unemployment was at 7.0 percent.

The Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region saw a jump in unemployment, from 7.1 percent in August to 7.6 percent in September.

The following is a breakdown of jobless rates in each of Alberta’s economic regions. In brackets is August’s unemployment rate.

· Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 7.6 percent (7.1)

· Camrose – Drumheller: 5.1 percent (5.6)

· Calgary: 7.3 percent (7.4)

· Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grand Prairie-Peace River: 5.9 percent (5.4)

· Red Deer: 8.0 percent (7.3)

· Edmonton: 7.6 percent (7.8)

· Wood Buffalo – Cold Lake: 6.2 percent (6.3)

Focusing on age groups, Statistics Canada noted that unemployment for men and women combined, ages 15-plus, was 6.6 percent. For the youth group (male and female, ages 15-24) – the rate was at 15.5 percent while it was at 5.2 percent for men and women, ages 25 and up.

Canada-wide, the jobless rate was 5.5 percent in September. That’s down from 5.7 percent in August.

READ MORE: Unemployment rate down after country adds 54,000 jobs in September, StatCan says

Statistics Canada said the job growth across the nation was largely concentrated in the health care sector and noted gains in the number of public-sector and self-employed workers.