Alberta's unemployment largely unchanged in November, Lethbridge sees massive drop

A stock photo of an office. (Pexels/@Proxyclick)

Alberta's unemployment rate was largely unchanged in November, but Lethbridge saw a massive drop.

Statistics Canada released its November 2023 Labour Force Survey on Friday, which showed Alberta's jobless rate sitting at 5.9 per cent, just one-tenth of a percentage point more than the month before.

"Employment in Alberta is on the rise yet again with nearly 8,900 more people working in the province in November, driven by full-time job growth," said Matt Jones, minister of jobs, economy and trade, in a statement on Friday.

"Most of these gains came from the goods-producing sectors.

"As more people continue to answer Alberta’s call and move to our province, the labour force grew at a greater rate than employment this month with 14,400 more workers. And it is no wonder, because Alberta continues to drive job growth in the country. Over the last 12 months, employment in our province has grown by 4.1 per cent, well above the national average of 2.5 per cent."

Lethbridge was the only of the three Alberta cities surveyed to see large-scale change, with unemployment taking a massive drop to sit at 4.3 per cent compared to five per cent the month before.

In Edmonton, unemployment climbed slightly to sit at 6.2 per cent from six per cent the month prior.

In Calgary, the jobless rate in November climbed slightly to 6.1 per cent from 5.8 per cent in October.

Nationally, unemployment ticked up to 5.8 per cent in November as the economy added 25,000 jobs.

The Labour Force Survey examined the week of Nov. 5 to 11, 2023.