Alberta’s unemployment rate rises to 6.6% as the province loses nearly 11,000 jobs

EDMONTON — While other provinces reported more people finding work in October, Alberta’s jobs situation slid in the opposite direction.

The province’s employment rate dropped in October as the province lost nearly 11,000 jobs, according to Statistics Canada. Unemployment increased to 6.6 per cent, up from 6.5 in September.

The jobs lost were full time positions, while part time actually increased by 800 positions.

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The unemployment rate in Alberta was 2.2 points higher in October 2015 than a year earlier. Some of the blame is being placed on thousands of jobs being lost in the natural resources sector, as well as an additional 70,000 people joining the province’s labour force.

Across Canada, StatsCan says the country churned out 44,400 new positions last month, easily topping estimates from economists who were anticipating a much more modest bump of 10,000.

READ MORE: 5 things to know about Canada’s job numbers right now

Manitoba now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Manitoba all saw gains in employment.