Calgary's unemployment rate holds at 8.2%

Unemployment remains stubbornly high in Calgarywhere the seasonally adjustedrate was 8.2per cent in both August and September, according to Statistics Canada.

That's not as high as its peak of 8.4 per cent over the last year, which was in September 2017, but it is the second highest rate among Canada's metropolitan areas after St. John's at 9.6 per cent.

For Alberta as a whole, the unemployment rate was 6.8per cent in September.

Bev Dalby the research director at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policysays Alberta's unemployment rate is reacting to concerns overeconomic growth.

He points to the issue of pipelines and oil prices as major factors, but said that's not the whole story.

"There are lots of other uncertainties out there," Dalby said.

"The U.S. tax reforms have created uncertainty around how Canada will respond or what Canada's tax advantage will be vis-a-vis the United States. There's disruption in financial markets and anticipation ofhigher interest rates coming up and also, of course, issues around the trade agreements."

He said it's not just the new deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, but also agreements between China and the U.S. and Europe and the U.S. that could have an impact.

"The other thing about the unemployment rate is that if people keep coming to Alberta and to Calgary, then even if we're creating some more jobs the unemployment rate may be going up," said Dalby.

Calgary is affected more than Edmonton because of the number of head offices in the city.

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