Alberta economy adds jobs in January even as full-time employment slips, survey says

Alberta bucked national employment trends in January, adding some 7,000 jobs while the country as a whole lost 200,000 positions as the Omicron variant took its toll on businesses. 

The province's unemployment rate also edged downward to 7.2 per cent in January, from 7.5 per cent in December, according to the latest labour force survey from Statistics Canada.

Despite those improvements, the number of full-time jobs in the province slipped by 3,900 positions, or 0.2 per cent. By contrast, part-time employment jumped by 10,900, or 2.5 per cent. 

Rob Roach, deputy chief economist at ATB Financial, said underneath the ups and downs and noise of the pandemic, there is some underlying strength and momentum in Alberta's economy.

He said the impact of high oil and gas prices is starting to be reflected in the job market. 

"Not an avalanche of new jobs but certainly a trickle that is on the positive side," Roach said.

The goods-producing sector of Alberta's economy — like agriculture, manufacturing and construction — added 18,400 jobs in January from December. Of that total, the natural resources sector added 3,000 positions.

On the other hand, the services-producing sector saw 11,300 fewer jobs in the month, with declines in retail, wholesale and educational services positions among them.

The services sector felt a similar sting across the country as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 forced many businesses in those industries to close up shop amid health restrictions.

Calgary saw its unemployment rate creep up to 8.5 per cent in January, up from 8.4 per cent a month earlier. Edmonton also saw its unemployment rate bump up, to 6.5 per cent last month from 6.4 per cent in December.

But looking at how far the job market has come over the past year, University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe said the labour market recovery is proceeding just as strongly as it has in recent months.

Alberta's economy saw nearly 130,000 new jobs created in 2021, according to provincial figures.

"So we've now not just recovered from COVID in a labour market sense but have now gone beyond it and are now starting to continue the recovery of our past recession, which is really encouraging," Tombe said.

"We're seeing employment rates now among kind of core-age Albertans that we haven't seen in quite some time."

He noted the employment rate among women in the prime age range of 25 to 54 is higher now than it has been since 2008. 

Tombe said he was not concerned by the survey's reported slippage in full-time jobs, noting that it's within the margin of error and that the trend has consistently been in the direction of rising full-time employment.

Alberta Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer said Friday the gains made last month indicate the province has recovered all the jobs it lost since the pandemic began. 

"Today's job numbers reflect that despite COVID-19's impact, Alberta's economy continues to push forward," he said in a release.

But NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley, the party's energy critic, said she was disappointed to see that Calgary's unemployment rate increase and Alberta's unemployment rate remain above the national average of 6.5 per cent.

"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," she said in a statement.