Almost 10,000 on P.E.I. looking for work

The unemployment rate on P.E.I. rose above 12 per cent in August for the first time in more than two years.

The last time the rate was more than 12 per cent was in May of 2014.

The high rate in August comes largely from an increase in the number of people looking for work, but continues a sluggish trend in job creation.

The total number of jobs on the Island has been largely unchanged since March, when they hit the lowest mark in five years.

• P.E.I. unemployment rate climbs back up to 11%

The August job market left 9,800 Islanders looking for a job.

To make matters worse, there has been a shift from full-time work to part-time work. There were 58,500 full-time jobs on P.E.I. in August, the lowest number since January 2011.

Nationally the unemployment rate was up 0.1 to 7.0 per cent, with 26,000 more jobs in the economy.

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