Alberta Adds Jobs in January 2015 Despite Oil Prices

Alberta’s Employment Market Adds Jobs Despite Faltering Oil Prices World-wide

Regardless of falling oil prices and company layoffs we hear about in the news, Alberta still remains a great place for workers looking to find a job according to Statistics Canada’s recently released Labour Force Survey.

Detailed in the report is a total of 13,700 jobs added during January 2015, one of the best monthly gains since September of 2014 and also was the fifth month in a row where the province added jobs – most of which were full-time positions. Alberta’s unemployment rate dropped a small fraction of a percent in January 2015 to a very reasonable 4.5 percent.

Losses

A deeper analysis of the Labor Force Survey shows that Calgary’s energy industry has indeed lost some jobs, despite the positive net gain of jobs for the month.

Throughout December 2014 and January 2015, there were 1,000 less jobs in oil and gas, and 3,700 less jobs in the “professional, technical and scientific” category that includes professions such as engineers, geologists and other technical services typically used by the energy companies. Educational services and construction also reported a loss.

Gains

However, despite the losses mentioned above, there were some definite positive gains in a handful of employment categories, including:

• Health care professionals

• Warehousing

• Transportation

• Manufacturing

• Public administration

While the oil and gas industry has had its fair share of jobs lost in January 2015, the positive net gain (nearly 14,000) most definitely outweighs the negative for Alberta’s economy.

Experts predict that a growth in the provincial unemployment rate and an overall loss of jobs is inevitable as we get further and further in 2015. But let’s stick with the good news until then!

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