Unemployment rates in Alberta and Calgary have reached two decade highs.

Our city’s jobless numbers reached 8.4 per cent in February, and the province’s unemployment rate is now higher than Quebec.

“That is discouraging, that is a real hit to the ego of this province,” ATB Financial’s Chief Economist Todd Hirsch said.

While we did see a positive increase in the number of jobs, added to the province for the first time in five months, Alberta’s unemployment still climbed to 7.9 per cent.

Hirsch says the reason may be the labour force appears to be growing faster than the number of positions.

“There’s probably some households, who perhaps have lost some income, maybe a job has been lost, and now both adults in that household might be out looking for work,” he said.

There’s a reason Calgary’s numbers have soared above Edmonton’s.

“Calgary is a real mirror of what’s happening provincially, so a lot of those job losses tend to be in manufacturing and oil and gas extraction, and those two sectors are really getting hammered the hardest,” Hirsch said, adding Edmonton’s economy is a bit more diversified.

Originally, Hirsch forecasted Alberta wouldn’t get to eight per cent until around summertime or the fall, and says he may have to make some revisions.