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Alberta unemployment jumps to highest level in nearly 20 years

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Published on February 12, 2016 with No Comments

Ontario experienced an increase of 20,000 positions, the lone province in Canada to see an employment increase in January.

 

Data released by Statistics Canada show that the Alberta unemployment rate is higher than the national rate for the first time since December 1988.

Alberta lost 10,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate in the province to 7.4% — the highest since 1996 — from 7% in December, according to Statistics Canada.

Canada overall saw 5,700 job losses in January, which edged up the national unemployment rate to a two-year high of 7.2 %. Ontario experienced an increase of 20,000 positions, the lone province in Canada to see an employment increase in January. Calgary’s jobless rate jumped from 7.0% in December to 7.7% in January, after registering 4.6 % in January 2015.

Low oil prices have translated into low spending for Calgary-based oil and gas producers. Suncor Energy Inc. said it would cut the 2016 budget it announced in November by $700 million to between $6 billion and $6.5 billion and fellow oilsands producer MEG Energy Corp. chopped its December budget in half to $170 million, down from $328 million. Alberta has seen the most bleeding in employment, with January’s downtick bringing the 12-month job loss total to 35,000.

The unemployment rate in Wood Buffalo/Cold Lake, home to most of Alberta’s oilsands projects, rose to 9.0% in January from 8.6% in December and 5.4% a year ago.

 

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