(The Canadian Press)

By Justin Goulet

Big spike in unemployment for Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region last month

May 8, 2020 | 9:53 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The jobless rate for the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region took a jump last month.

In April, the unemployment rate was listed at 6.8 percent, up from 5.2 percent in March.

For Alberta, the provincial rate was 13.4 percent. That’s a major jump from 8.7 percent in March.

April was the first full month of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Here’s how each economic region across the province looked last month, with March’s unemployment rate listed in parenthesis:

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· Red Deer: 11.1 percent (10.2)

· Calgary: 10.8 percent (8.7)

· Edmonton: 10.1 percent (8.2)

· Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 10.1 percent (7.1)

· Camrose-Drumheller: 9.3 percent (7.5)

· Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 7.9 percent (6.3)

· Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 6.8 percent (5.2)

For youth (ages 15-24), male and female, the province said the jobless rate was 29.0 percent while for adults (ages 25 and up, men and women combined), the rate was 11.5 percent.

CANADA

Canada-wide, the economy lost nearly two million jobs. The national unemployment rate was 13.0 percent, up from 7.8 percent in March 2020.

READ MORE: NewsAlert: Statistics Canada says nearly two million jobs lost in April

Here’s how each province broke down last month (March’s jobless rate listed in parenthesis):

· Quebec: 17.0 percent (8.1)

· Newfound and Labrador: 16.0 percent (11.7)

· Alberta: 13.4 percent (8.7)

· New Brunswick: 13.2 percent (8.8)

· Nova Scotia: 12.0 percent (9.0)

· British Columbia: 11.5 percent (7.2)

· Manitoba: 11.4 percent (6.4)

· Saskatchewan: 11.3 percent (7.3)

· Ontario: 11.3 percent (7.6)

· Prince Edward Island: 10.8 percent (8.6)