The federal government released their August 2024 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.
The net increase to jobs between last month and July was 12,800. 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 100 jobs short from where we were in April.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, women saw the largest increase between July and August. There were 8,600 more women over 25 at work last month compared to July. Those numbers jump to 12,900 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
For men, however, 2,300 fewer saw work compared to those working in July. When you add in the younger cohort, it improves to 100 fewer.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Jul 2024 | Aug 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QC | 4,505,500 | 4,520,200 | 14,700 | 0.33% |
| AB | 2,524,600 | 2,537,400 | 12,800 | 0.51% |
| NS | 508,100 | 513,100 | 5,000 | 0.98% |
| MB | 708,800 | 713,200 | 4,400 | 0.62% |
| NB | 400,100 | 402,200 | 2,100 | 0.52% |
| PEI | 91,700 | 92,600 | 900 | 0.98% |
| NL | 243,600 | 241,200 | -2,400 | -0.99% |
| SK | 610,700 | 608,000 | -2,700 | -0.44% |
| BC | 2,843,300 | 2,839,000 | -4,300 | -0.15% |
| ON | 8,077,200 | 8,068,800 | -8,400 | -0.10% |
Québec saw the largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with over 14,700 jobs added. Alberta was in second place.
We drop to fourth place, however, when we look at the new jobs as a percentage of July’s job numbers.
Just 8 of the industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in June. Of those, “wholesale and retail trade” had the highest gains: 8,600.
Of the 8 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada, all of them saw job losses in Alberta, with the oil and gas sectors losing over 10,000 jobs:
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | -10,200 |
| Business, building and other support services | -5,700 |
| Health care and social assistance | -5,400 |
| Educational services | -1,800 |
| Utilities | -1,000 |
| Agriculture | -900 |
| Information, culture and recreation | -600 |
| Transportation and warehousing | -100 |
Combined, these 10 industries lost over 25,700 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “educational services”, increasing by over 29,700 new jobs, a jump of 19.64%.
“Wholesale and retail trade” saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing nearly 16,000 jobs.
| Aug 2023 | Aug 2023 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Educational services | 151,200 | 180,900 | 29,700 | 19.64% |
| Public administration | 114,400 | 127,800 | 13,400 | 11.71% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | 140,300 | 153,600 | 13,300 | 9.48% |
| Information, culture and recreation | 81,200 | 91,000 | 9,800 | 12.07% |
| Accommodation and food services | 138,100 | 146,100 | 8,000 | 5.79% |
| Manufacturing | 149,400 | 155,900 | 6,500 | 4.35% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | 131,800 | 136,500 | 4,700 | 3.57% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 145,000 | 147,200 | 2,200 | 1.52% |
| Utilities | 18,400 | 20,300 | 1,900 | 10.33% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 103,800 | 104,700 | 900 | 0.87% |
| Health care and social assistance | 332,800 | 332,600 | -200 | -0.06% |
| Business, building and other support services | 75,900 | 74,900 | -1,000 | -1.32% |
| Construction | 248,800 | 244,300 | -4,500 | -1.81% |
| Agriculture | 43,100 | 34,200 | -8,900 | -20.65% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 239,900 | 229,900 | -10,000 | -4.17% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 373,600 | 357,700 | -15,900 | -4.26% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 14,500 between July and August. However, there were 55,300 more private-sector jobs than this time last year.
Public sector jobs were down by 700 over July, and Alberta had 10,000 fewer public sector workers compared to August 2023. Self employed jobs were down by 1,000 over July but down by 15,600 over August 2023.
Part-time jobs rose last month. Alberta gained 29,100 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between July and August. It lost 16,400 full-time jobs during the same period.
These full-time losses were evenly split between men and women workers. The part-time jobs went primarily to women: 21,100 verses 8,000 for men.
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 2,070,200. That means that there are 183,500 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 81.6%, meaning that in the more than 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 shrunk.
In fact, there were only 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. And only once in 2024 (July) has it passed that mark.
Speaking of full-time jobs, wages for full-time workers in Alberta increased by 98¢ in August. Keep in mind that it had dropped 84¢ in July and dropped by $1 in June, so we’re still 86¢ lower than where we were in May.
Part-time wages, on the other hand, decreased by 1$. Median hourly wages for part-time workers had sat at $19.00, which is where it had been for 7 of the previous 8 months. It now sits at $18 an hour, the lowest it’s been since July 2023.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs increased from $30 an hour in July to $30.86 in August.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in August 2024, behind British Columbia.
| BC | $33.65 |
| AB | $33.14 |
| ON | $32.88 |
| QC | $31.25 |
| SK | $30.00 |
| NL | $29.00 |
| NB | $27.35 |
| MB | $27.27 |
| NS | $27.00 |
| PEI | $25.40 |
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 also behind Québec and Ontario and tied with Saskatchewan. This is the first time in years that Alberta’s part-time workers have had the fourth-highest median wage in Canada.
| BC | $21.00 |
| QC | $19.00 |
| ON | $18.50 |
| SK | $18.00 |
| AB | $18.00 |
| MB | $17.50 |
| NL | $17.00 |
| NS | $17.00 |
| NB | $16.55 |
| PEI | $16.10 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 5 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 4, and decreased in all the rest.
| Jul 2024 | Aug 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $51.28 | $54.95 | $3.67 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $37.00 | $40.00 | $3.00 |
| Agriculture | $23.50 | $25.64 | $2.14 |
| Health care and social assistance | $29.00 | $30.00 | $1.00 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $31.80 | $32.50 | $0.70 |
| Construction | $35.00 | $35.00 | $0.00 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $21.00 | $21.00 | $0.00 |
| Public administration | $43.56 | $43.56 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.31 | $17.00 | -$0.31 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $25.00 | $24.28 | -$0.72 |
| Manufacturing | $30.81 | $30.00 | -$0.81 |
| Utilities | $50.48 | $48.98 | -$1.50 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $39.00 | $37.00 | -$2.00 |
| Business, building and other support services | $25.00 | $23.00 | -$2.00 |
| Educational services | $33.85 | $31.73 | -$2.12 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate jump to 7.7% last month, which is up significantly from 7.1% in July. This makes 5 months in a row we’ve been at 7% or above, something we haven’t seen since 2011.
Alberta’s labour force also increased last month, by 29,900. If you have nearly 13,000 more people actually working but nearly 30,000 more people available to work than in July, then it’s not surprising that the unemployment rate increased.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the third highest, behind just Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at 10.4%, and Prince Edward Island, which was at 8.2%.
Alberta’s unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percentage points between July and August, the second largest increase in Canada, behind only Newfoundland and Labrador (0.8).
The rate is up 2 percentage points since August 2023, the largest year-over-year increase in Canada. Even Newfoundland and Labrador increased by only 1.6 points.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 22,100. Those gains were driven primarily by Québec (14,700) and Alberta (12,800).
The national unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% in July. It was also up from 5.5% last August.
