Unemployment rate in Edmonton in September hits 9%, StatCan data shows – Edmonton
Edmonton now leads the largest municipalities in the country in terms of the number of unemployed people.
September figures from Statistics Canada show the unemployment rate in Alberta’s capital sits at nine per cent.
That’s up from the previous month’s rate of 8.6 percent and above the national average of 6.5 percent.
Moshe Lander of Concordia University’s economics department says it could be the number of people moving to the province that is driving that number up.
“There is a misconception that people move to Alberta and instantly start a job on Monday. That’s not how it works,” Lander said.
“It’s not that the economy is necessarily soft, it’s not that Alberta is weak, it’s just that people are moving faster than there are jobs to absorb them.
Lander says the time of year could also be a factor.
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He says unemployment often increases in the summer before people return to work in the fall and winter.
“I would probably like to see if this is exactly what is happening in the Canadian summer or if this is the start of a worrying trend where it will persist at the top of the Canadian rankings in terms of unemployment numbers,” said Lander.
Lander adds that more data will be needed to determine Edmonton’s trends.
Calgary and Lethbridge are the other two Alberta cities included in the Statistics Canada report. Calgary’s unemployment rate is 7.4 percent and Lethbridge’s is 5.1 percent.
Windsor is the only other city with an unemployment rate above 8 percent, at 8.9.
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