The NWT has the lowest unemployment rate of any jurisdiction in Canada, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics’ latest report.
The latest numbers have NWT’s unemployment rate at 6.5 per cent.
That’s down from a peak of 10.8 per cent in August.
Manitoba is the next closest with 7.2 per cent, with Nunavut in third at 7.3 per cent. Nationally, the unemployment rate sits at 7.5 per cent.
Employment rate — the number of people aged 15 and above who are employed
The territory’s employment rate rose to 67.4 per cent, the highest recorded month of March since 2016.
Across the country, the average employment rate stood at 58.4 per cent, unchanged from February and 1.3 percentage points lower than March 2020.
The workforce in the NWT grew also, expanding by 400 people, mainly due to younger people aged 15 to 24 joining the workforce.
The youth employment rate rose 19.2 percentage points to 55.6 per cent, making it the record highest for March in this age group. The employment rate as reached highs for people living outside of Yellowknife, with last month’s employment rate reaching its highest point since October 2016.
A lot of that growth was in part-time employment. The number of full-time workers stayed roughly the same, while 1,100 additional people were added to part-time employment.
The areas that saw the biggest increase were public administration, as well as the health sector and business and building services.
