While not a record low for the province, Alberta’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate fell from 5.3% in May to 4.9% in June. The record low for Alberta was set in October 2006 when the provincial unemployment rate was just 3.1%.

The national unemployment rate also fell, going from 5.1% to 4.9%— lowest it has been since the modern data series began in 1976.

June also marks the first time Alberta’s unemployment rate has not been higher than the national average since December 2015.

The improvement in the unemployment rate was mostly due to fewer people participating in the labour force. The number of people employed in Alberta increased by just 2,000 positions in June while the labour force contracted by 7,100 people.

Answer to the previous trivia question: John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)  is known for advocating government spending to mitigate the adverse effects of economic downturns.

Today’s trivia question: Who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 and was played by Russell Crowe in the film “A Beautiful Mind?”