Despite the unemployment rate holding steady throughout the province, the region housing Bonnyville saw an increase.
In February’s stats, the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake region, which houses most of the Lakeland, saw a 0.5 per cent increase in unemployment over the past month, bring it up to 5.8 per cent. While the increase, not measuring seasonal employment, is a jump up from January it is on par with the numbers last year.
Currently the region has the second lowest unemployment, with Medicine Hat-Lethbridge sitting at 4.6 per cent. Province wide, the number is at 7.2 percent, with an increase of 11,000 jobs among youth.
Nationally, Canada sits at 5.6 per cent or 30,000 new jobs filled. The rise in employment is due to more people working in wholesale or retail trades, manufacturing and culture and recreation.