The federal government released their January 2025 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are down in Alberta. This is the first since September 2024.
The net decrease to jobs between last month and December was 4,300.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, women saw the largest decrease between December and January. There were 5,900 fewer women over 25 at work last month compared to December. Those numbers improve slightly to a loss of 5,400 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
The loss among men was far less, with just 200 of those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in December. When you add in the younger cohort, it changes to a 1,100 increase.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Dec 2024 | Jan 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ON | 8,201,400 | 8,240,400 | 39,000 | 0.48% |
| BC | 2,920,600 | 2,944,000 | 23,400 | 0.80% |
| QC | 4,619,900 | 4,635,600 | 15,700 | 0.34% |
| NB | 400,000 | 402,900 | 2,900 | 0.73% |
| MB | 729,100 | 731,100 | 2,000 | 0.27% |
| NL | 243,200 | 243,100 | -100 | -0.04% |
| PEI | 94,600 | 94,300 | -300 | -0.32% |
| NS | 527,700 | 527,200 | -500 | -0.09% |
| SK | 608,200 | 606,400 | -1,800 | -0.30% |
| AB | 2,572,700 | 2,568,400 | -4,300 | -0.17% |
Ontario saw the single largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with 39,000 jobs added. British Columbia was in second place at 23,400.
Alberta, on the other hand, saw the largest decrease, losing over 4,000 jobs.
We improve slightly to third-from-last place, however, when we look at the new jobs as a percentage of December’s job numbers.
6 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in January. Of those, “professional, scientific and technical services” had the highest gains: 7,900.
Of the 10 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada, two saw no change in jobs (utilities and public adminstration), and the other 8 saw job losses in, with the “accommodation and food services” sector losing the most, at 5,400 jobs:
| Accomodation and food services | -5,400 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | -4,500 |
| Other services (except public administration) | -3,700 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | -3,500 |
| Health care and social assistance | -2,900 |
| Manufacturing | -1,700 |
| Educational services | -1,000 |
| Information, culture and recreation | -500 |
Combined, these 8 industries lost 23,200 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “construction”, increasing by 20,000 new jobs, a jump of over 8%.
The “forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing nearly 8,000 jobs, which was more than 1 in 20.
| Jan 2024 | Jan 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 239,900 | 259,900 | 20,000 | 8.34% |
| Health care & social assistance | 322,800 | 338,700 | 15,900 | 4.93% |
| Manufacturing | 145,000 | 157,200 | 12,200 | 8.41% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 233,700 | 243,900 | 10,200 | 4.36% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 132,800 | 142,200 | 9,400 | 7.08% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 355,500 | 363,400 | 7,900 | 2.22% |
| Accommodation & food services | 139,500 | 146,400 | 6,900 | 4.95% |
| Public administration | 118,200 | 123,400 | 5,200 | 4.40% |
| Business, building & other support services | 82,800 | 84,500 | 1,700 | 2.05% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 86,100 | 86,600 | 500 | 0.58% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 148,500 | 148,900 | 400 | 0.27% |
| Agriculture | 38,900 | 39,000 | 100 | 0.26% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 106,900 | 105,800 | -1,100 | -1.03% |
| Utilities | 22,300 | 20,000 | -2,300 | -10.31% |
| Educational services | 170,700 | 166,600 | -4,100 | -2.40% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 149,900 | 142,100 | -7,800 | -5.20% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector shrunk by 2,500 between December and January. However, there were 70,700 fewer private-sector jobs than this time last year.
In contrast, public sector jobs were up by 500 over December, and Alberta had 13,400 more public sector workers compared to January 2024. This marks 3 months in a row that public sector jobs outperformed private sector jobs.
Self employed jobs were down by 2,200 over December and down by 9,200 over January 2024.
Part-time jobs grew last month. Alberta gained 17,100 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between December and January. It lost 21,400 full-time jobs during the same period.
These full-time losses were all women workers (25,600), with a still substantial 4,100 more men working full-time. The part-time jobs were a loss for men (-3,200) but a gain for women (20,300).
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 2,099,000. That means that there are 212,300 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 82.50% of all jobs in the province.
Last month, they were at 81.72%, meaning that in the nearly 6 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) did it passed the mark.
Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta increased by 62¢ an hour in January to $34.62. This is where full-time wages sat at in October and November.
Part-time wages, however, had increased from $19.64 to $20.00, only the second time it’s been this high (the other was April 2023).
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs remained unchanged from December at $31.25 an hour.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in January 2025, behind British Columbia.
| BC | $35.00 |
| AB | $34.62 |
| ON | $34.13 |
| QC | $32.67 |
| SK | $32.00 |
| NL | $30.07 |
| NS | $30.00 |
| NB | $29.57 |
| MB | $28.80 |
| PEI | $28.47 |
Alberta had the fourth smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months, down from third place in December.
| Jan 2024 | Jan 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NS | $27.00 | $30.00 | $3.00 |
| NB | $27.14 | $29.57 | $2.43 |
| SK | $30.21 | $32.00 | $1.79 |
| AB | $33.00 | $34.62 | $1.62 |
| PEI | $27.00 | $28.47 | $1.47 |
| QC | $31.25 | $32.67 | $1.42 |
| BC | $33.65 | $35.00 | $1.35 |
| MB | $28.00 | $28.80 | $0.80 |
| ON | $33.65 | $34.13 | $0.48 |
| NL | $29.91 | $30.07 | $0.16 |
Things are less rosy for part-time workers in Alberta, falling behind BC ($22) and tying with Québec ($20).
| BC | $22.00 |
| QC | $20.00 |
| AB | $20.00 |
| ON | $19.23 |
| MB | $18.00 |
| SK | $18.00 |
| NS | $17.50 |
| NL | $17.20 |
| PEI | $17.00 |
| NB | $17.00 |
As well, Alberta saw the third largest net increase in their part-time median hourly wage since last January.
| Jan 2024 | Jan 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC | $20.00 | $22.00 | $2.00 |
| MB | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| AB | $19.10 | $20.00 | $0.90 |
| ON | $18.50 | $19.23 | $0.73 |
| NS | $17.00 | $17.50 | $0.50 |
| QC | $19.75 | $20.00 | $0.25 |
| NL | $17.00 | $17.20 | $0.20 |
| SK | $18.00 | $18.00 | $0.00 |
| PEI | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| NB | $17.90 | $17.00 | -$0.90 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 5 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 3, and decreased in all the rest.
| Nov 2024 | Dec 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | $52.41 | $56.00 | $3.59 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $30.08 | $33.00 | $2.92 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $40.60 | $43.00 | $2.40 |
| Manufacturing | $28.85 | $31.00 | $2.15 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $23.00 | $24.00 | $1.00 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $28.85 | $29.37 | $0.52 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.00 | $17.50 | $0.50 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $53.85 | $54.10 | $0.25 |
| Agriculture | $25.00 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| Public administration | $44.30 | $44.00 | -$0.30 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $34.71 | $34.29 | -$0.42 |
| Educational services | $36.54 | $35.00 | -$1.54 |
| Business, building and other support services | $27.00 | $25.00 | -$2.00 |
| Health care and social assistance | $32.00 | $30.00 | -$2.00 |
| Construction | $37.00 | $34.00 | -$3.00 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate remain unchanged at 6.7%.
Alberta’s labour force also decreased last month, by 6,400. With having 4,300 fewer people actually working but 6,400 fewer people available to work than in December, it makes sense that our unemployment rate didn’t budge.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the fourth highest, behind Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at 10.6%; Prince Edward Island, which was at 8.5%; and Ontario, which was at 7.6%.
Alberta was the only province that saw its unemployment rate remain unchanged. Three provinces saw their rate increase, and all the rest saw a decrease in their jobless rate.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 76,000. Those gains were driven primarily by the 3 largest provinces: Ontario (39,000), BC (23,400), and Québec (15,700).
The national unemployment rate decreased to 6.6%, down from 6.7% in December. It was also up from 5.7% last January.
