Calgary Herald

Province sees strong employment numbers

- MARIO TONEGUZZI MTONEGUZZI@CALGARYHER­ALD.COM

While employment in Alberta was little changed in March, employment growth continued to be the highest among the provinces for the 12-month period, said Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported Thursday that 64,900 new jobs were created since March 2011 in the province, up 3.1 per cent. But on a monthly basis only 4,400 new jobs were added, an increase of 0.2 per cent.

“With more people participat­ing in the labour market in March, the unemployme­nt rate increased 0.3 percentage points to 5.3 per cent,” added the federal agency.

In the Calgary census metropolit­an area, the unemployme­nt rate fell to 5.1 per cent in March from 5.2 per cent the previous month.

Employment in the region was up 0.7 per cent or by 5,300.

On a year-over-year basis, employment was up 4.1 per cent or by 29,300 jobs.

Alberta’s unemployme­nt rate was tied with Manitoba’s for the second lowest among all provinces, behind Saskatchew­an’s 4.8 per cent.

Alberta boasted the best labour market in the country last year, creating half of all new jobs from coast to coast, said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial.

“In the spring of 2012, the province is still creating jobs, but at a somewhat slower pace. While the pace of job creation is slower than the spring and summer of last year, it remains positive,” Hirsch said.

“The overall market is well balanced at the moment — not overheatin­g, but certainly not cooling down too much,” he added.

According to the Alberta government, year-over-year employment growth in the province accounted for 32.9 per cent of Canada’s employment growth over the same period.

The following industries had the most employment increases in March from the previous month in Alberta: profession­al, scientific and technical services, 8,400; constructi­on, 4,600; and business, building and other support services, 3,900.

 ?? Christina Ryan, Calgary Herald ?? Housing constructi­on is one of the contributi­ng factors behind Alberta’s strong employment numbers.
Christina Ryan, Calgary Herald Housing constructi­on is one of the contributi­ng factors behind Alberta’s strong employment numbers.

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