Area jobless rate best in province

MORE THAN 20,000 ALBERTANS FIND JOBS IN MARCH

More than 20,000 Albertans found work last month. And there’s more good news: southern Albertans can boast the lowest unemployment rate in the province.

Statistics Canada reports more than 24,000 men and women were hired across Canada last month in the manufacturing sector alone, mainly in Ontario and Alberta. But the agency’s monthly report also shows Alberta — with a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 8.4 per cent — is still fourth-highest in the nation.

Alberta’s south showed this province’s lowest unemployment rate, 6.9 per cent (unadjusted) in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region. But at 9.1 per cent, Calgary remained the highest of any major city in Canada, and Edmonton was close behind at 8.8 per cent.

Even so, StatsCan says Alberta recorded the month’s largest job growth overall, adding 20,700 full-time jobs during March. Despite job losses in Quebec and some other areas, the net gain was about 19,400 jobs across Canada. Many jobs were listed as self-employment, it added.

The national rate crept up 6.7 per cent last month, primarily because more people were looking for work. A year ago, it was pegged at 7.1 per cent.

Alberta labour analysts say the unemployment rate here failed to drop because nearly 25,000 men and women joined or rejoined the labour force. Of the 20,700 job gains, about 7,100 were in money-related fields: finance, insurance, real estate and leasing. Retail and wholesale positions were next, followed by manufacturing.

But seasonal job losses were reported in forestry and mining, along with oil and gas. Central Alberta communities seemed hardest hit, with a 9.9 per cent jobless rate in the Drumheller-Camrose region and 9.5 per cent in Red Deer.

Across the nation, StatsCan says both full-time and part-time employment have increased 1.5 per cent from a year ago.

“Overall, this is just another piece of evidence that the economy has broken out of its two-year lull,” according to Douglas Porter, chief economist for BMO.

There are still signs of weakness, he noted.

“But I would say that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives — we’ve now had solid job gains in seven out of the last eight months.”

Economists had expected gains of about 5,000 jobs last month, but were proven too pessimistic.