Source: https://mailchi.mp/aa76eea92fde/the-owl-slow-but-steady-improvements-in-the-job-market?e=6f1f3fb3a5
It may not be the bonanza of new jobs that a lot of Albertans had become used to in the first half of the decade, but the employment situation in our province continues to improve gradually.
A net 8,300 jobs were added in March, following a more modest increase of 2,300 in February. However, all of the jobs added last month were part-time. The unemployment rate provincially dropped to 6.3 per cent–the lowest since the summer of 2015. Much of that decrease was due to a drop in the overall labour force (that is, fewer people were looking for work).
The longer-term view is always the more appropriate one, and in this respect the news is positive. Over the last 12 months, Alberta created 46,400 full-time jobs, an increase of 2.5 per cent. New job creation has been strongest in manufacturing (+15,000), oil and gas (+14,200) and business support services (+5,500).
Jobs in the government sector have not been a major contributor (+3,600), and two sectors which had previously seen the strongest gains during the recession–health care and education–have been essentially flat over the last year.
Calgary’s unemployment rate popped back to 8.2 per cent in March, up three-tenths of a percentage point from February. There was some slight decline in total jobs (-1,600), but also an increase in the labour force (+1,300), suggesting that either previously discouraged job seekers are back looking for work, or people are moving to the city.
About Don Cholak
