The unemployment rate for the oilsands has dropped a little, but it is still higher than the national and provincial averages according to Statistics Canada. In May the rate for the area was 8.6%, and that has gone down to 8.0%. Many of the energy companies which operate in the oilsands believe that the unemployment rate is still high because of new taxes, a drop in oil prices, and uncertainty about the future. Increases in taxes were recently passed, and government officials defend these taxes as necessary. Oil companies are less likely to hire new employees or to expand projects when oil prices are low, and that is also the case right now. Some of the major companies in the area have delayed projects and laid off workers in order to cut costs but this could leave the area unprepared if oil prices jump up again and more production is needed.

The drop in the oilsands unemployment rate is a start, but it is not a solution yet because the area still has a higher percentage of unemployed people than the province or the entire nation. Joe Ceci, the finance minister for Alberta, has defended increasing taxes and says he does not believe that the new taxes are the reason that Wood Buffalo has such a high unemployment rate. In the last few years the region has seen less revenue and higher costs, and this is an equation that must be balanced. If less is coming in and more is going out there is less available to spend on the labor pool. It is simple math.