The Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region had a sizable improvement to its unemployment rate in Nov. 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region adds 2,500 jobs in November

Dec 5, 2025 | 10:03 AM

It was a good month for employment across much of the province.

The Alberta Government reports that the number of people working provincially grew by 28,700 in November, with over 86 per cent of those jobs being full-time.

That improved Alberta’s unemployment rate by 1.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

The industries with the biggest growth in jobs were healthcare and social assistance (+13,800), accommodation and food services (+13,400), and educational services (+6,200).

A few sectors experienced reductions in employment, including public administration (-8,700), wholesale and retail trade (-2,600), and agriculture (-1,400).

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All regions in the province saw their unemployment rates fall this past month.

In Lethbridge-Medicine Hat, for example, that fell from 8.6 per cent in October to 7.4 per cent in November.

Statistics Canada says employment in the southernmost region grew by 2,500.

The economic region, which spans the B.C. border to the Saskatchewan border, and almost all areas south of Calgary, had a population of 264,900 in November, increasing by 3,900 over the last year, or 1.49 per cent.

The unemployment rates for all economic regions in Alberta for November 2025 were:

• Lethbridge-Medicine Hat: 7.4% (down 1.2%)
• Red Deer: 7.3% (down 0.1%)
• Edmonton: 7.1% (down 1.1%)
• Calgary: 7% (down 0.6%)
• Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake: 6.6% (down 0.2%)
• Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River: 5% (down 0.5%)

You can learn more about the latest labour statistics in Alberta here. The national report can be found here.

READ MORE: Canada added 54,000 jobs in November, unemployment rate drops to 6.5%: StatCan