Alberta loses nearly 16,000 jobs in January

It’s the second month of losses in a row, but Edmonton region recovering: StatCan

Nearly 16,000 more Albertans were out of work in January, marking the second month in a row that the province has seen declining job numbers.

The unemployment rate increased to 6.8 per cent, up from 6.4 per cent, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The province said the numbers aren’t reflective of the overall trend, citing monthly fluctuations.

“If we take a step back and look at where Alberta was a year ago, we actually added over 37,000 new jobs in the private sector but we know there’s more work to do,” said Ministry of Finance spokesman Mike Brown in a statement.

The province refused to answer questions beyond a statement emailed on Friday.

The hardest hit demographic was young men between the ages of 15 and 24 due to jobs lost during the recession that haven’t returned, said University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.

“This January report was the worst employment rate for that group of Albertans ever on record,” he said, adding less than 55 per cent in that demographic are employed.

“The recession really hit oil and gas, construction and some associated oil and gas activities harder than any other sector. These are largely male-dominated portions of the economy,” he said.

“I completely agree that no single month’s job report should carry the day,” he said.

UCP SLAMS PROVINCE FOR JOB NUMBERS

But the United Conservative Party pointed to the January numbers as an example of poor fiscal management.

“It’s clear yet again that the NDP government’s high-tax, high-debt policies have failed Albertans, driving job-creating investment out of the province,” said UCP finance critic Drew Barnes in a statement.

Other provinces fared better — employment jumped in six provinces, led by Ontario and Quebec. Saskatchewan saw a decline of 2,800 jobs, but its unemployment rate remained steady around 5.5 per cent.

Across the country, there was a rush of 66,800 net new jobs in January in a gain fuelled by a hiring surge in the private sector.

The latest labour force survey by Statistics Canada found that more people also searched for work last month, which pushed the unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent, up from its 43-year low of 5.6 per cent in December.

The biggest boost came from the number of private-sector employee positions, which climbed by 111,500 in January for the category’s biggest month-to-month increase since the agency started collecting the data point in 1976. The number of self-employed positions, which can include unpaid work, declined by 60,700.

The services sector saw a gain of 99,200 positions, led by new work in wholesale and retail trade, while the goods-producing industries experienced a net loss of 32,300 jobs, the report said.

Edmonton has been experiencing a stronger recovery than Calgary, said Tombe.

“Calgary’s unemployment rate has been largely flat whereas Edmonton has declined,” he said.

There was a small reduction of 200 jobs in January in the Edmonton census metropolitan area, said a city report Friday. That loss was concentrated in full-time positions.

Edmonton’s unemployment rate

The level of full-time employment in the Edmonton region was still higher on a year over year basis.

moved up slightly to 6.4 per cent from 6.3 per cent. Comparatively, the Calgary census metropolitan area’s unemployment rate fell to 7.3 per cent from 7.5 per cent.

“Employment in the Edmonton region continues to demonstrate that the region is recovering from the downturn in 2016,” said the City of Edmonton’s labour force report. “Despite a marginal decline month over month in January 2019, the level of full-time employment in the Edmonton region was still higher on a year over year basis.”