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Despite a staggering rise in unemployment, a report from the city says Calgary is still one of the richest cities in Canada.

More than 18,300 full-time positions were lost in the city last year, and the annual average unemployment rate climbed to nine per cent compared with 6.1 per cent in 2015.

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Economic activity in Calgary dwindled for the second year in a row, according to the city’s December Labour Market Review. The report goes on to say the local labour market has “lost its attraction” for job seekers outside the city, leaving Calgary with the highest unemployment rate among major economic regions in the country.

In October of last year, 30,900 people from Calgary and the surrounding area were recipients of employment insurance, an increase of 57 per cent from the same month in 2015.

Coun. Shane Keating said the added number of Calgarians using employment insurance could be related back to the more than three per cent increase in the unemployment rate, but also due to severance packages and benefits for Calgarians laid off in the past year finally running out.