Alberta sees unemployment rate of 7.2 per cent in January

In January, the province notes the industries in Alberta that had the most employment decreases from the previous month were ‘other services’ (except public administration), at 10,600. Educational services saw a loss of 6,100 and professional, scientific and technical services saw a decrease of 5,500.

Industries that had the most employment gains over the same period were manufacturing at 10,500, information, culture and recreation at 7,400, and health care and social assistance at 6,000.

Alberta’s Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer issued the following statement on the job numbers:

“Today’s job numbers reflect that despite COVID-19’s impact, Alberta’s economy continues to push forward. The gains made last month indicate Alberta has recovered all the jobs that were lost since the pandemic began. Once again, Alberta leads the country with an employment rate of 64.5 per cent and a declining unemployment rate.

“Alberta is one of only five provinces to see such growth and one of only four provinces to see a drop in its unemployment rate. This news comes as 200,000 jobs were lost nationally, with the national unemployment rate increasing.

“The data released today follows a strong year for Alberta that saw nearly 130,000 new jobs created and our unemployment rate drop to its lowest since before the pandemic began. While modest, January’s numbers show a continuation of those trends. Year over year, Alberta’s unemployment rate has gone from 10.8 per cent in January of last year to 7.2 per cent last month.

“Last year, we saw several record-breaking investments in our province and we are looking forward to even more investment in 2022. The most recent reports show increases in retail sales, restaurant sales, wholesale trade and oil production. Importantly, the province saw building permits increase by 30 per cent over the past year. As we have been saying, Alberta is coming back.

“Job numbers fluctuate month to month but, as demonstrated over the past number of months, Alberta’s economic recovery has momentum. I am confident we will continue to see growth in our province as word spreads that Alberta is a business and entrepreneur-friendly jurisdiction with a high quality of life and low cost of living.”

Canada’s unemployment rate for January was 6.5 per cent, up from 6.0 per cent in December. Statistics Canada says the national economy lost 200,000 jobs last month, with the highest losses seen in Ontario and Quebec, which implemented some of the country’s strictest COVID-19 health measures to ease the strain of the Omicron variant.

READ MORE: Statistics Canada says 200,000 jobs lost in January

Kathleen Ganley, NDP Energy Critic and MLA for Calgary-Mountain View, made the following statement in response to today’s Labour Force Survey numbers:

“I am disappointed to see that Calgary’s unemployment rate increased; it is still the worst among any major city in Canada, and Alberta’s unemployment rate remains above the national average.

“While a gain in part-time jobs is welcome, it’s disconcerting to see that Alberta lost almost 4,000 full-time jobs in the month of January.

“Strong energy prices are boosting provincial revenues and corporate shareholder dividends, unfortunately they are not yet creating badly needed jobs here in Calgary or across Alberta.

“These job losses happened while the UCP is forcing Albertans to pay more income tax, more property tax, more school fees, more tuition, more interest on student debt, more for camping, more for utilities, and more for car insurance.”

As of this publication, local statistics for each economic region in Alberta, posted here, were not available from the Government of Alberta.

(With files from rdnewsNOW)

by Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Alberta sees unemployment rate of 7.2 per cent in January

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