The amount of people not working in the NWT is on the rise.

A new report from Statistics Canada indicates that 22,900 of 34,600 NWT residents aged 15 years and older were employed in October, which marks an 800-person drop from September. That works out to a 2.3 per cent decrease in the territory's employment rate, which settled at 66.2 per cent for the month. 

This is in keeping with the larger employment trend in the NWT. Between October 2023 and October 2024, the employment rate slipped by 4.1 percent. Employment rates dropped for all of the major worker demographic groups, according to the report, declining the most for people aged 15-24. 

However, employment is on the rise in some industries. Compared to October 2023, there were 600 more people working in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing, 600 more in the field of accommodation and food services and 200 more in the forestry, fishing, mining, and oil and gas sectors. 

The fields of public administration, transport and warehousing, and construction saw the biggest declines in employment. 

The employment rate also fell for the whole of Canada, albeit at a lower rate, dropping from 61.2 per cent to an even 60 per cent. 

Relative to other provinces and territories, the NWT still had the second highest employment rate, surpassed only by Yukon, where the rate sat at 73.4 per cent in October. Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest employment rates, at 55.3 and 53.6 respectively.