Calgary maintains highest unemployment rate in Canada for 5th straight month

Calgary’s unemployment rate climbed ever so slightly in November, helping the city to cling to the dubious title of having the highest jobless rate in Canada.

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According to new numbers from Statistics Canada’s released on Friday, the unemployment rate in the oil and gas hub was 10.3 per cent last month compared with 10.2 per cent in October – the worst among the 33 metropolitan areas surveyed.

November marked the fifth straight month that Calgary’s unemployment rate was the highest in Canada. It’s also the sixth straight month that Calgary’s jobless rate has increased.

A look at Calgary’s unemployment rate increases:

 May 2016 – 8.1 per cent (compared to 8.3 per cent in April)

 June 2016 – 8.3 per cent

 July 2016 – 8.6 per cent (Calgary’s unemployment rate becomes worst in Canada)

 August 2016 – 9 per cent

 September 2016 – 9.5 per cent

 October 2016 – 10.2 per cent

 November 2016 – 10.3 per cent

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Statistics Canada reported the national unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent in November, slightly less than the seven per cent recorded during the three previous months.

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In Alberta, employment fell by 13,000 in November, increasing the unemployment rate by 0.5 percentage points to 9 per cent – the highest rate since July 1994.