It appears as if the Yukon’s economy is rebounding well from the COVID-19 blues.

According to figures provided by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics for December 2021, the seasonally-adjusted employment rate for the territory is now a miniscule 2.8 per cent. That’s down 2.4 per cent over December 2020.

The national rate for the same period is 5.9 per cent.

“There were 700 unemployed people in December 2021,” the report reads.

“The number decreased by 500, or 41.7 per cent, compared December 2020, and remained the same as November 2021.”

The report said 24,000 people had jobs in the Yukon. That number rose by 1,900 people over December 2020.

On a month-to-month basis, employment in the Yukon climbed by 800 people (3.4 per cent) in December 2021 over November 2021.

November’s data reported that the Yukon’s unemployment rate (2.9 per cent) fell by 2.2 percentage points compared to October (5.1 per cent).

Compared to October, the Yukon’s labour force rose by 200 to 23,900.

The number of employed increased by 700 to 23,200 and the number of unemployed dipped by 500, to 700.

Nationally, the November unemployment rate (6.0 per cent) dropped by 0.7 percentage points compared to October.

Compared to October’s figures, the labour force in Canada increased 0.2 per cent; the number of employed rose 0.8 per cent; and the number of unemployed fell by 8.9 per cent.

The Labour Force Survey estimates that 72.2 per cent of Yukoners aged 15 years and over were employed or seeking employment in November.

The Yukon’s participation rate in November (72.2 per cent) increased by 0.4 percentage points compared to October (71.8 per cent) and climbed by 0.9 percentage points compared to the rate in November 2020 (71.3 per cent).

The November employment rate of 70.1 per cent rose by 1.9 percentage points compared to October (68.2 per cent) and also increased by 1.9 percentage points compared to November 2020 (68.2 per cent).

Historically, the Yukon’s participation rate and employment rate have trended similarly to those of Alberta.

In recent periods, however, the territory’s rates have generally been higher than Alberta’s.

Compared to October 2021, full-time employment in November remained the same at 18,900; part-time employment increased by 400 to 4,100.

The October 2021 preliminary average weekly earnings figure for Yukon ($1,328.93) was the third-highest in Canada, following the Northwest Territories ($1,592.07) and Nunavut ($1,495.99).

The Yukon’s earnings figure increased 3.4 per cent compared to the figure for October 2020, while Canada’s figure was up 2.7 per cent.