Calgary goes against national trend, adds jobs to market
Posted Sep 10, 2022 8:59 am.
Last Updated Sep 10, 2022 9:00 am.
Calgary has bucked a national trend in August, adding 7,000 jobs, the Calgary Economic Development said on Friday.
The city sits at a 4.9 per cent unemployment rate due to a large increase in jobs, down from 9.3 per cent in August 2021.
Canada has seen a decline in employment, with 40,000 jobs lost in the month of August, according to Statistics Canada.
In addition. Canada saw unemployed persons jump up with over 100,000 people added as recently unemployed from July to August. Unemployed can include people that are looking for work, are available for work, and people that have been laid off.
Canada’s unemployment sits at 5.4 per cent.
Alberta has also seen a similar trend, with the province losing 6,500 jobs in August, driving the unemployment rate to match the national average.
READ MORE: Canada’s unemployment rate ticks up to 5.4% in August, economy loses 40K jobs
Dexter Lam, a senior manager with Calgary Economic Development, said in a statement that Calgary is on the right track after many years of uncertainty.
“Our unemployment rate has reached levels last seen during the peak of Calgary’s energy boom,” Lam said. “While this may appear welcome after years of labour market uncertainty related to energy-sector volatility and COVID-19, such tight labor market conditions do complicate the near-term outlook in the face of inflation and potential recessionary pressures.”
Non-professional private-sector services and construction sectors were at the helm in August, with 3,300 and 3,200 jobs added.
With all industries, Calgary saw an additional 10.5 per cent of the population added to their labour market.
“As Calgary’s labour market remains cautiously strong, the nature of and composition of employment continues to evolve,” Lam said. “This reflects an economy that continues to transition in a number of significant ways.”
-With files from Pete Curtis
