What slump? Jobs up, unemployment down in Yukon

Yukon appears to be riding out an ongoing slump in the mining industry this winterwith big construction projects keeping job numbers up.

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According to Statistics Canada's labour force survey, there were 900 more jobs in the territory last monthcompared to February 2016.That represents a 4.3 per cent increase in the seasonally adjusted labour force.

Unemployment numbers also dropped over the same period. The territory's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 4.1 per cent, down from 6.2 per cent a year ago.

Gary Brown of the Yukon Bureau of Statistics credits government infrastructure projects, such as the new Whistle Bend continuing care facility and the expansion of the Whitehorse hospital.

Other major projects include the new Salvation Army shelter being built downtown, and a new Save-On-Foods grocery store.

"They have picked up the slack, on the goods-producing side, where mining has fallen off," he said.

Brown says retail sales, wholesale and real estate have also been stronger, whilethe territory's population continues to grow.

"Those kinds of goods-producing jobs the construction jobs there's a lot of spin-off into the service sector as well," he said.

Yukon's unemployment rate in February was also lower than the national average. Canada's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent, down 0.6 per cent from a year ago.

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