Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Friday, November 07
EDMONTON - The percentage of Edmontonians without jobs dipped to 3.4 per cent in October - the second lowest among major Canadian cities, according to figures released today by Statistics Canada.
That marks a slight dip from September’s 3.5 per cent rate and a steeper drop from October 2007 when the seasonally adjusted Edmonton unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent, based on three-month moving averages.
Calgary had the nation’s third-lowest unemployment rate at 3.8 per cent. Both cities trailed Victoria.
Alberta boasted Canada’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.7 per cent, below the national rate of 6.2 per cent.
Full-time jobs in Alberta grew so fast, they broke a record.
“Employment in Alberta rose by 15,000 in October, pushing the employment rate to 72.5 per cent, the highest on record,” said the federal agency.
Alberta sectors with the most job growth since January are professional, scientific, technical services, manufacturing, construction, trade and agriculture.
Still, employment growth in the province so far, at 2.2 per cent this year, lags behind the first 10 months of 2007 at 3.5 per cent.
