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Unemployment in the oilsands region drops

The unemployment rate in the oil sands region continues to drop, albeit very slightly last month. Statistics Canada released its September unemployment numbers this morning. The Wood Buffalo – Cold Lake economic region saw unemployment shrink from 7.6 per cent in August to 7.5 per cent in September.

That’s a massive drop from the 8.6 per cent unemployment rate the region suffered through in May, although it’s higher than both the provincial average of 6.3 per cent and the national average of 7.1 per cent.

According to Statistics Canada 12,000 jobs were added last month mostly through 74,000 part-time gigs, offset by a loss of 62,000 full-time jobs. Alberta added 12,000 jobs last month but more people were searching for work pushing the rate up slightly by one tenth of a percentage point from 6.2 per cent.

The natural resources sector which includes the oil and gas industry saw a 2.6 per cent drop in employment nationwide from roughly 358,600 to about 356,000.