The federal government released their May 2025 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are down in Alberta.
The net decrease to jobs between last month and April was 1,700. Since the start of 2025, Alberta has seen a net loss of 8,600 jobs.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest increase between April and May. There were 6,600 more men over 25 at work last month compared to April. Those numbers jump to a gain of 13,500 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
Women, however, saw a decrease of 4,400 in those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in April. When you add in the younger cohort, it drops significantly to a 15,200 decrease.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 2,950,900 | 2,963,900 | 13,000 | 0.44% |
| NS | 516,400 | 527,000 | 10,600 | 2.05% |
| NB | 400,400 | 408,000 | 7,600 | 1.90% |
| ON | 8,195,200 | 8,198,600 | 3,400 | 0.04% |
| SK | 616,000 | 617,100 | 1,100 | 0.18% |
| NL | 248,100 | 248,500 | 400 | 0.16% |
| AB | 2,565,800 | 2,564,100 | -1,700 | -0.07% |
| PEI | 94,300 | 91,600 | -2,700 | -2.86% |
| MB | 736,600 | 730,800 | -5,800 | -0.79% |
| QC | 4,645,600 | 4,628,600 | -17,000 | -0.37% |
British Columbia saw the single largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with 13,000 jobs added. Nova Scotia came in at a close second, with 3,000 more new jobs as those seen in New Brunswick, which was in third place.
Québec had the largest decrease, losing 17,000 jobs. Alberta joined Québec as two of only four provinces that lost jobs last month.
On a percentage basis, Alberta had the smallest loss.
8 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in April. Of those, agriculture had the highest gains: 6,900.
The 8 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “transportation and warehousing” sector losing the most, at 6,900 jobs:
| Transportation and warehousing | -6,900 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | -5,100 |
| Public administration | -4,500 |
| Other services (except public administration) | -4,300 |
| Health care and social assistance | -3,700 |
| Business, building and other support services | -1,700 |
| Accomodation and food services | -1,600 |
| Construction | -900 |
Combined, these 8 industries lost 28,700 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “construction”, increasing by over 35,000 jobs, a jump of nearly 15%.
The “other services (except public administration)” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 16,200 jobs, which was about 14.36%.
| May 2024 | May 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 238,300 | 273,500 | 35,200 | 14.77% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 339,200 | 361,600 | 22,400 | 6.60% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 126,300 | 139,800 | 13,500 | 10.69% |
| Agriculture | 31,900 | 41,800 | 9,900 | 31.03% |
| Educational services | 163,800 | 173,400 | 9,600 | 5.86% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 87,600 | 95,900 | 8,300 | 9.47% |
| Health care & social assistance | 319,300 | 326,800 | 7,500 | 2.35% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 236,600 | 242,300 | 5,700 | 2.41% |
| Public administration | 125,600 | 128,000 | 2,400 | 1.91% |
| Utilities | 19,600 | 20,800 | 1,200 | 6.12% |
| Accommodation & food services | 148,800 | 149,900 | 1,100 | 0.74% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 145,400 | 146,300 | 900 | 0.62% |
| Business, building & other support services | 88,300 | 78,100 | -10,200 | -11.55% |
| Manufacturing | 157,300 | 145,700 | -11,600 | -7.37% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 155,500 | 143,800 | -11,700 | -7.52% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 112,800 | 96,600 | -16,200 | -14.36% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 12,200 between April and May. However, there were 46,100 more private-sector jobs than this time last year.
In contrast, public sector jobs were down by 10,700 over April, and Alberta had 22,900 more public sector workers compared to May 2024.
Self employed jobs were down by 3,200 over April and down by 1,200 over May 2024.
Part-time jobs grew last month. Alberta gained 100 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between April and May.
In contrast, Alberta lost 1,800 full-time jobs during the same period, but that was far shy of making up for the 30,300 full-time jobs lost in March. So far, in 2025, we’ve lost 23,500 full-time jobs.
These full-time losses were all women workers (-9,600), with a still substantial 7,800 more men working full-time. The part-time jobs were a gain for men (5,600) and a loss for women (5,500).
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 2,096,900. That means that there are 210,200 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 81.78%, 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 pass the mark.
Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta shrank by 53¢, from $34.62 in April to $34.09 last month.
Part-time wages, however, remained unchanged from April at $19.65 an hour.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs fell from $31.81 in April to $31.40 last month.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in May 2025, 91¢ behind British Columbia and just 9¢ ahead of Ontario.
| BC | $35.00 |
| AB | $34.09 |
| ON | $34.00 |
| QC | $32.69 |
| SK | $30.64 |
| NL | $30.00 |
| NS | $28.85 |
| MB | $28.61 |
| NB | $28.00 |
| PEI | $27.95 |
Alberta had the smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months, down from sixth place in April, fifth place in March, and fourth place in February. I’m sensing a trend.
| May 2024 | May 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ON | $32.63 | $34.00 | $1.37 |
| NB | $26.70 | $28.00 | $1.30 |
| PEI | $27.00 | $27.95 | $0.95 |
| NL | $29.15 | $30.00 | $0.85 |
| NS | $28.09 | $28.85 | $0.76 |
| QC | $32.00 | $32.69 | $0.69 |
| MB | $28.00 | $28.61 | $0.61 |
| BC | $34.52 | $35.00 | $0.48 |
| AB | $34.00 | $34.09 | $0.09 |
| SK | $31.00 | $30.64 | -$0.36 |
For part-time workers, Alberta had the third highest median hourly wage.
| BC | $22.00 |
| QC | $20.00 |
| AB | $19.65 |
| ON | $19.00 |
| PEI | $18.00 |
| NS | $18.00 |
| NB | $18.00 |
| MB | $18.00 |
| SK | $18.00 |
| NL | $17.50 |
Alberta drops to 6th place when we look at median hourly part-time wages over the last year.
| May 2024 | May 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC | $20.00 | $22.00 | $2.00 |
| PEI | $16.25 | $18.00 | $1.75 |
| ON | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| NB | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| SK | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| AB | $19.00 | $19.65 | $0.65 |
| NL | $17.00 | $17.50 | $0.50 |
| NS | $17.60 | $18.00 | $0.40 |
| MB | $17.95 | $18.00 | $0.05 |
| QC | $19.97 | $20.00 | $0.03 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 9 of the 16 reported sectors. They decreased in 6 others and remained unchanged in 1.
| May 2024 | May 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | $48.08 | $51.25 | $3.17 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $25.00 | $28.00 | $3.00 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $50.00 | $51.92 | $1.92 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $30.52 | $32.00 | $1.48 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $21.00 | $22.44 | $1.44 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $35.71 | $36.94 | $1.23 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $21.94 | $23.00 | $1.06 |
| Business, building and other support services | $23.00 | $24.00 | $1.00 |
| Construction | $36.00 | $36.06 | $0.06 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $40.00 | $39.65 | -$0.35 |
| Manufacturing | $32.50 | $32.00 | -$0.50 |
| Health care and social assistance | $30.00 | $29.00 | -$1.00 |
| Agriculture | $23.50 | $22.15 | -$1.35 |
| Public administration | $45.00 | $43.59 | -$1.41 |
| Educational services | $37.98 | $34.62 | -$3.36 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate increase to 7.4%. It was 7.1% in March and April and 6.7% in December and the first 2 months of 2025.
Alberta’s labour force increased last month, by 7,400. With having 1,700 fewer people actually working but 7,400 more people available to work than in March, it makes sense that our unemployment increased.
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 9.7%; PEI, which was at 8.2%; and Ontario, which was at 7.9%.
Alberta was one of 6 provinces that saw its unemployment rate increase, and its increase was the third largest.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 8,800. Those gains were driven primarily by BC (13,000) and Nova Scotia (10,600).
The national unemployment rate increased to 7.0%. That’s up slightly from 6.9% in April.
