The employment rate in the NWT surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels in January to reach 65.8 per cent.
The January job rate also represents a steady climb from June of 2020, the low point for that year when the rate was 61.9 per cent, according to the Labour Force Activity report released Friday by the NWT Bureau of Statistics.
The employment rate in the NWT was also higher than the Canadian average of 57.5 per cent for January, 2021 and above the national average over the past year.
The NWT’s January employment rate was the second highest nationally behind the Yukon, where it was 66.4 per cent. Alberta's was the third highest at 60.8 per cent. Newfoundland & Labrador and Nunavut had the lowest rates at 47.4 per cent and 48.6 per cent, respectively.
With the unemployment rate, the NWT's was 5.9 per cent in January, the lowest of any Canadian jurisdiction in Canada.
The number of employed people in the NWT in January increased by 100 people to 22,300 from December, and by 600 compared to January of 2020.
Demographically, the employment increases over the last year were all among women, while male employment dropped by 200 people.
The employment rate for women rose by 5.5 per cent to 68.5 per cent, the highest since August 2019.
For youth aged 15 to 24 years, the rate increased by 5.5 per cent points to 45.5 per cent, marking the highest rate for January among that age group since 2017.
Five-hundred more people were employed part-time in January, 2021 compared to January of 2020, although 300 fewer people were working in the private sector in January of 2021.
Year-over-year employment increased the most in public administration, construction, health care and social assistance, in transportation and warehousing, and health care and social assistance.
The largest employment declines were in information, culture and recreation and forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas industries.