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Unemployment rate drops to six per cent

PHOTO. Supplied: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The unemployment rate in Wood Buffalo – Cold Lake dropped to its lowest point in a year hitting just six per cent for February, down from 6.3 per cent in January.

Although the news at first seems positive, Statistics Canada’s labour force survey suggests there are actually less people working in the region compared to last month.

The total number employed workers was estimated at 83,400 for February, down from 83,600 in the first month of 2018.

The unemployment rating drop could be attributed to less people looking for work as the local labour force fell from an estimated 89,200 in January in 88,800 last month.

Provincially the jobless rating dropped held steady at 6.8 per cent for the second month in a row.

The national jobless rating spiked from 5.7 in January to 5.9 per cent in February.