NWT employment rate strongest in Canada

By Derek Neary Northern

The Northwest Territories led all provinces and territories with a 70.7 per cent employment rate as of April.

The national rate was 61.6 per cent, seasonally unadjusted.

The NWT’s employment rate for all of 2022 was 73.1 per cent, which the GNWT deems as close to full employment.

There were 24,100 people employed in the NWT versus 1,400 unemployed, creating an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent. Comparing it to the month of April for each year for the past decade, it’s the lowest rate. The highest was 8.9 per cent in April 2014.

However, September 2022 saw the lowest recent NWT unemployment rate for any month, at 3.8 per cent.

The NWT had 8,600 eligible people who were not among the labour force as of April, putting the participation rate at 74.8 per cent.

As of March, the unemployment rate among men was at 7.7 per cent compared to 3.3 per cent among women.

In regards to age groups, young workers from 15 to 24 years old saw an unemployment rate of 17.2 per cent while those 25 years and older were at 3.6 per cent.

The unemployment rate among Indigenous people stood at 12.2 per cent in March. For non-Indigenous people, it was 1.3 per cent.

Yellowknife’s unemployment rate was 1.4 per cent while the rest of the territory was at 10.4 per cent in March.

Between March and April, the public sector increased by 800 jobs while self-employment grew by 200 jobs. That more than offset losses in the private sector, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics.

During that same time frame, employment was up in public administration (400 jobs), education (300), and transportation and warehousing (200), offsetting declines in construction, business, building and other support services.

Public sector outstripping private sector

As of March, there were 20,800 full-time workers in the territory, whereas 2,900 were employed part-time.

Service-producing industries provided work for 19,900 people compared to 3,800 in goods-producing industries.

The public sector employed 11,700 residents while the private sector stood at 10,300 workers. Those who were self-employed numbered 1,600.

The GNWT is forecasting that a “tight labour market” will persist, with labour shortages in some industries, such as construction, health care, education and food services posing “short-term and long-term risks to the economic outlook because an inability to fill vacant positions may hamper private-sector activity (businesses can not maintain or expand operations) and may reduce the quality of life for NWT residents (previously available services become limited or unavailable).”