Unemployment in the Drayton Valley statistical area edged up slightly in July to 5.7 per cent while a rosier picture is being painted for jobs across Canada.
The unemployment rate was five per cent in June.
That’s according to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. Despite the month-over-month increase, unemployment in the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River statistical region remained among the lowest of Alberta’s seven statistical regions.
The Camrose-Drumheller region was tied for the lowest unemployment rate at 5.7 per cent, while the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region had the highest at 7.8 per cent.
Among Alberta’s two big cities, Calgary posted an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent, compared with 7.2 per cent in Edmonton.
In July, there were more than 2.67 million people employed in Alberta, an increase of 91,000, or 3.5 per cent, compared with July 2025. However, employment was down by 7,300 from June.
Alberta’s unemployment rate was seven per cent. While unchanged from June, it was down 0.9 percentage points from July 2025.
National unemployment rate dips
Nationally, Canada added 75,000 jobs in July as the unemployment rate fell to 6.4 per cent, its lowest level in two years.
Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate declined for the third consecutive month and is down half a percentage point since April.
Job gains were split between full- and part-time work. Wholesale and retail trade added 21,000 jobs in July, although the sector remains down 50,000 positions compared with a year ago.
Ontario added the most jobs of any province, with much of the growth coming in the professional, scientific and technical services sector.
The increase exceeded economists’ expectations. A Reuters poll had forecast Canada would add 15,000 jobs in July.
Statistics Canada said employment has increased by 181,000 jobs since April and by 196,000 compared with a year ago.
~ with files from the Canadian Press
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