Alberta headed for 25% unemployment, Kenney says

Alberta is on track to hit a staggering 25 per cent unemployment rate as businesses continue to shed jobs amid the global COVID-19 pandemic coupled with historically low oil prices, Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday.

“The shutdown in much of our economy is having a devastating impact,” Kenney said to attendees of an online energy conference Tuesday morning.

“Based on some polling that we’ve done and some analysis, I fully expect unemployment in Alberta to be at least 25 per cent, at least half a million unemployed Albertans.“

This will be the most challenging period for the province’s economy, in relative terms, since the Great Depression, Kenney told the group convened by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

CBC