The federal government released their July 2024 job numbers last week, and job numbers are down in Alberta.
The net decrease to jobs between last month and June was 600. Keep in mind that we lost 20,400 jobs between April and May, and gained only 8,100 of those back in June, which puts us still 12,900 jobs short from where we were in April.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest increase between June and July. There were 1,700 more men over 25 at work last month compared to June. Those numbers jump to 6,000 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
For women, however, 5,700 fewer saw work compared to those working in June. When you add in the younger cohort, it increases to 6,600 fewer.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Jun 2024 | Jul 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ON | 8,054,800 | 8,077,200 | 22,400 | 0.28% |
| SK | 604,000 | 610,700 | 6,700 | 1.11% |
| NB | 400,400 | 400,100 | -300 | -0.07% |
| PEI | 92,100 | 91,700 | -400 | -0.43% |
| AB | 2,525,200 | 2,524,600 | -600 | -0.02% |
| NL | 244,600 | 243,600 | -1,000 | -0.41% |
| NS | 512,900 | 508,100 | -4,800 | -0.94% |
| MB | 714,200 | 708,800 | -5,400 | -0.76% |
| QC | 4,514,600 | 4,505,500 | -9,100 | -0.20% |
| BC | 2,853,600 | 2,843,300 | -10,300 | -0.36% |
Ontario saw the largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with over 22,000 jobs added in just one month. That’s on top of the nearly 150,000 jobs they gained in May and June.
Of the 8 provinces that saw job losses last month, Alberta saw the second smallest decrease.
We drop to lowest decrease, however, when we look at the new jobs as a percentage of May’s job numbers, so it could’ve been worse
Just 6 of the industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in June. Of those, “educational services” had the highest gains: 17,200.
Of the 10 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada, all of them saw job losses in Alberta:
| Accomodation and food services | -10,100 |
| Other services (except public administration) | -9,000 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | -5,600 |
| Transportation and warehousing | -4,000 |
| Manufacturing | -2,800 |
| Public administration | -2,700 |
| Business, building and other support services | -2,200 |
| Agriculture | -1,600 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | -1,600 |
| Utilities | -500 |
Combined, these 10 industries lost over 40,000 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas”, increasing by over 27,500 new jobs, a jump of 20.18%.
“Wholesale and retail trade” saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing over 19,200 jobs.
| Jul 2023 | Jul 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | 136,300 | 163,800 | 27,500 | 20.18% |
| Educational services | 160,500 | 182,700 | 22,200 | 13.83% |
| Information, culture and recreation | 78,400 | 91,600 | 13,200 | 16.84% |
| Health care and social assistance | 328,500 | 338,000 | 9,500 | 2.89% |
| Manufacturing | 146,300 | 154,100 | 7,800 | 5.33% |
| Business, building and other support services | 73,600 | 80,600 | 7,000 | 9.51% |
| Public administration | 117,300 | 122,500 | 5,200 | 4.43% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 98,500 | 102,500 | 4,000 | 4.06% |
| Accommodation and food services | 138,300 | 141,300 | 3,000 | 2.17% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 144,700 | 147,300 | 2,600 | 1.80% |
| Utilities | 19,300 | 21,300 | 2,000 | 10.36% |
| Construction | 241,600 | 236,800 | -4,800 | -1.99% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | 136,300 | 130,600 | -5,700 | -4.18% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 235,600 | 227,200 | -8,400 | -3.57% |
| Agriculture | 46,900 | 35,100 | -11,800 | -25.16% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 368,400 | 349,100 | -19,300 | -5.24% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 1,400 between June and July. Keep in mind that we lost 11,500 between April and May and 1,000 between May and June, so we’re at a net loss. However, there were still 59,200 more private-sector jobs than this time last year.
Public sector jobs were up by 4,700 over June, and Alberta had 900 fewer public sector workers compared to July 2023. Self employed jobs were down by 6,800 over June but down by only 4,500 over July 2023.
Part-time jobs fell last month. Alberta lost 47,000 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between June and July. It gained 46,400 full-time jobs during the same period.
Most of the new full-time workers were women, according to Statistics Canada. There were 25,200 women full-time workers who gained jobs last month, slightly more than the 21,100 men who gained full-time jobs in July 2024.
In June 2019, the month before the Job Creation Tax Cut came into effect, there were 1,886,700 people working full-time. Last month, there were 2,086,600. That means that there are 199,900 more full-time jobs than there were before the UCP cut the tax on corporate profits.
While more full-time jobs does seem like a good thing, let’s take a look at how much of a percentage of total jobs are full-time jobs. In June 2019, full-time jobs made up 82.5% of all jobs in the province.
Last month, they were at 82.7%, meaning that in the nearly 5 years since the UCP government introduced the so-called Job Creation Tax Cut, the percentage of Alberta workers being employed in full-time positions has more or less stayed the same.
Be careful being too optimistic, however. There have been a handful of times during 2023 when this number passed 82.5%, but it was always only marginally and came right back down the following month. This is the first time in 2024 that the number has passed 82.5%.
Speaking of full-time jobs, wages for full-time workers in Alberta decreased by 84¢, compounding the $1 an hour loss we saw in June. The median hourly wage in Alberta in July was $32.16, the lowest it’s been since May 2023.
Part-time wages, on the other hand, decreased by 30¢. Median hourly wages for part-time workers had sat at $19.00, which is where it’s been for 7 of the last 8 months.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs remained at $30 an hour, the same place it sat at between September and March. It was at $30.77 in April and May.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in July 2024, behind British Columbia.
| BC | $33.65 |
| AB | $32.16 |
| ON | $32.00 |
| QC | $31.00 |
| SK | $30.00 |
| NL | $28.48 |
| NS | $27.00 |
| MB | $27.00 |
| NB | $26.56 |
| PEI | $25.50 |
Alberta hasn’t had a median full-time hourly wage higher than BC at any point in 2024 so far.
As far as the median hourly wage for part-time workers, Alberta was behind BC once again but tied with Québec.
| BC | $21.63 |
| QC | $19.00 |
| AB | $19.00 |
| ON | $18.20 |
| MB | $17.75 |
| NS | $17.50 |
| NL | $17.00 |
| NB | $17.00 |
| SK | $17.00 |
| PEI | $16.00 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 5 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 4, and decreased in all the rest.
| Jun 2024 | Jul 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | $21.00 | $23.50 | $2.50 |
| Business, building and other support services | $23.50 | $25.00 | $1.50 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $50.00 | $51.28 | $1.28 |
| Utilities | $49.60 | $50.48 | $0.88 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $38.46 | $39.00 | $0.54 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| Health care and social assistance | $29.00 | $29.00 | $0.00 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $21.00 | $21.00 | $0.00 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $25.00 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.50 | $17.31 | -$0.19 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $37.50 | $37.00 | -$0.50 |
| Construction | $35.90 | $35.00 | -$0.90 |
| Manufacturing | $32.00 | $30.81 | -$1.19 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $33.14 | $31.80 | -$1.34 |
| Public administration | $45.33 | $43.56 | -$1.77 |
| Educational services | $36.37 | $33.85 | -$2.52 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate remain steady at 7.1% last month, which is down from 7.2% in May but still higher than the 7.0% it was at in April. This makes 4 months in a row we’ve been 7% or above, something we haven’t seen since 2011.
Alberta’s labour force also decreased last month, 800. If you have 600 fewer people actually working and 800 fewer people available to work than in June, then it’s not surprising that the unemployment rate decreased by only one-tenth of a percentage point.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the fourth highest, behind just Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at 9.6%; Prince Edward Island, which was at 8.9%; and New Brunswick, which was at 7.2%.
Canada saw an decrease in employment last month, with jobs across the country dropping by 2,800. Those loses were driven primarily by BC (10,300) and Québec (9,100).
The national unemployment rate also remained unchanged. at 6.4%. It was also up from 5.5% last July.
4 replies on “AB FT wages dropped $1.84/hr since May 2024”
We all know who is behind all this and none of these numbers make sense.. average hourly wage In alberta 33 and change or whatever.??? Where?? That’s a bloody joke most jobs in alberta are trash, over 90 percent actually and they pay around 20 too 25 an hour so where do these numbers come from.
It’s the median, not the average, which means half the jobs pay less than that and half the jobs pay more than that.
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