The unemployment dropped for Alberta and Edmonton last month, but rose slightly in Calgary, new data shows. SUNMEDIA

The unemployment rate in Edmonton continued its long-term decline in March, but Calgary’s jobless figure rose for a fourth month, the latest Statistics Canada data shows.

In Edmonton, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down last month to 6.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in February, while in Calgary the rate went up to 8.2 per cent from 7.9 per cent, according to figures released Friday.

At the same time, Alberta’s overall jobless level dropped slightly to 6.7 per cent, part of a major improvement in the economy that has seen provincial unemployment fall from a peak of nine per cent in fall 2016.

The two big cities have seen unemployment shrink by at least one percentage point since last March.

“Between March 2017 and March 2018, (Alberta’s) full-time employment increased by 46,400, and overall employment increased by 40,500. The number of unemployed Albertans decreased by 49,100 over the same period,” provincial labour-force highlights say.

The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported.

Source: http://edmontonjournal.com ^[1]