The unemployment rate in the Lethbridge area increased to 6.7 per cent in August 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge-Medicine Hat unemployment rate increases to 7.3%

Sep 5, 2025 | 8:48 AM

Statistics Canada is reporting that 7.3 per cent of people who were looking for work in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat Economic Region were out of a job

That is up from 5.9 per cent in July.

The region includes communities like Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Taber, Coaldale, Fort Macleod, Crowsnest Pass, Brooks and more.

The participation rate was 62.8 per cent, and a total of 58.3 per cent were employed.

The population in the economic region was 264,200 in August, rising by 5,200 over the last year.

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Camrose-Drumheller and Red Deer were tied for the lowest unemployment rate in Alberta at 5.4 per cent, while Edmonton’s was the highest at 8.7 per cent.

Overall in Alberta, the unemployment rate jumped up from 7.8 percent in July to 8.4 per cent in August. That is the second-highest among all Canadian provinces, behind only Newfoundland and Labrador at 10.7 per cent.

The total number of people employed in the province decreased by 14,200, largely due to a sharp drop in part-time work (-23,700). Full-time employment increased by 9,600.

This month’s numbers were due to a few large swings in employment in both directions for certain industries.

The fields with the biggest job losses were manufacturing (-25,100) and wholesale and retail trade (-19,100).

On the other hand, more jobs were created in industries such as healthcare and social assistance (+17,700), educational services (+6,700), and utilities (+4,600).

The full report on employment statistics can be found on the Alberta Government’s website.

Nationally, the unemployment rate grew to 7.1 per cent, the highest level since May 2016, excluding the pandemic period.

READ MORE: Unemployment rate climbed to 7.1 per cent in August as economy lost 66,000 jobs