PEI

P.E.I. unemployment rate climbs back over 10%

A record run for P.E.I.'s unemployment rate ended in February.

Unemployment rate was below 10% for 9 months

After a hot run P.E.I.'s labour economy is starting to cool off. (Lynne Sladky/AP)

A record run for P.E.I.'s unemployment rate ended in February.

The rate was 10.3 per cent, the first time it has been over 10 per cent since April. The nine-month run of rates below 10 per cent was the longest since it has been measured, going back to the 1970s. The longest previous run was six months, from August 1976 to January 1977.

The economy also saw full-time jobs swapped for part-time jobs, with 900 full-time jobs lost and 400 part-time jobs added.

'The number of unemployed has been rising since October, when it bottomed out at 6,000. It was 8,600 in February.

Nationally the rate was steady at 5.8 per cent.

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