The July 2021 employment rate in the NWT was at 72.0 percent, the highest number it’s been at since August 2016 according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics.
Youth aged 15 to 24 are a big reason for that number as they recorded the largest increase in the employment rate, rising by 23.1 percent from 43.6 this time last year. The youth employment rate of 66.7 percent is the record highest for this age group.
The NWT also has the highest employment rate in the country, ahead of Yukon (67.9%), Saskatchewan (61.7%) and Alberta (60.3%).
The labour force across the territory as a whole increased by 700 from last month as there are currently 24,400 employed people in the NWT.
Among those employed, 86 per cent worked full-time while 14 per cent worked in part time positions. The 700 new jobs were driven solely by part-time employment
The employment rate has increased by 8.7 percent from July 2020 and is 1.9 percent higher than it was at this time two years ago, before the pandemic.
Since last year, the labour force has increased by 1,800, while employment increased by 3,000 people. In that time, the unemployment rate dropped from 9.7 percent to 4.3 percent.
Communities outside of Yellowknife were largely responsible for the uptick in employment as they accounted for 70 percent of the total increases, for a total 2,100 new jobs
Employment also increased in all sectors, as 1,400 residents got employed in the public sector, 1,100 in the private sector and by 400 in self-employment.
