The unemployment rate in the Yukon bucked a national trend, marking a modest decrease last month.
Per Yukon Bureau of Statistics data for February, the territory’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 3.9 per cent compared to the January number: 4.3 per cent. This equates to about 1,000 unemployed people, down by 100 from last month, according to the bureau.
The national unemployment rate for February was 5.8 per cent, an increase of 0.1 per cent compared to January at 5.7 per cent.
Canada’s labour force is growing marginally faster than the number of available jobs. The labour force increased by 0.4 per cent, the number employed increased by 0.2 per cent and the number of unemployed people increased by 2.9 per cent.
The Yukon’s unemployment rate remains firmly the lowest in the country, with Manitoba’s next lowest rate at 4.5 per cent. Newfoundland had the country’s highest rate for February, at 10.2 per cent.
The territory also has the country’s highest labour force participation rate, with 73.7 per cent of the population aged 15 or older working or actively seeking work.
(Jim Elliot)
