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Lethbridge-Medicine Hat unemployment rate up slightly in February

Mar 6, 2020 | 9:19 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The unemployment rate in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region took a small jump last month.

The February rate was listed at 4.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent in January 2020.

Across the province, Alberta’s jobless rate was 7.2 percent in February. That’s down a touch from 7.3 percent in January.

Here’s how each of Alberta’s economic regions break down:

· Red Deer: 8.6 percent (7.4 in January)

· Edmonton: 7.7 percent (7.9 in January)

· Calgary: 7.2 percent (6.9 in January)

· Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 6.8 percent (6.5 in January)

· Camrose-Drumheller: 6.4 percent (5.1 in January)

· Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 5.8 percent (5.3 in January)

· Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 4.6 percent (4.5 in January)

Focusing on specific age ranges, the jobless rate for males and females combined, in the youth category (15-24), was 13.5 percent. For adults (25-plus), male and female, it was at 6.2 percent in February.

CANADA WIDE

Overall, the Canadian economy added 30,300 net new jobs in February. The unemployment rate for the nation was 5.6 percent.

READ MORE: Canada added 30,300 jobs in February, unemployment rate 5.6 percent

Quebec saw a drop in its unemployment rate to 4.5 percent. That’s the lowest level for the province over the past four decades of comparable data.

-With files from The Canadian Press