The federal government released their August 2025 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are down in Alberta.
The net decrease to jobs between last month and July was 14,000, and when you combine it with July’s loss of 16,800 jobs, June’s increase of 30,000 has been completely wiped out. Not only that, but since the start of 2025, Alberta has seen a net loss of 12,000 jobs.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest decrease between July and August. There were 29,900 fewer men over 25 at work last month compared to July. Those numbers improve a bit to a loss of just 22,300 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
Men lost a combined 39,600 jobs in July and August.
Women, however, saw an increase of 12,500 in those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in July. When you add in the younger cohort, it drops to to only an 8,100 increase.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QC | 4,637,000 | 4,644,500 | 7,500 | 0.16% |
| PEI | 92,700 | 93,800 | 1,100 | 1.19% |
| NS | 525,400 | 524,100 | -1,300 | -0.25% |
| SK | 623,400 | 621,000 | -2,400 | -0.38% |
| NL | 246,100 | 242,900 | -3,200 | -1.30% |
| MB | 741,400 | 736,200 | -5,200 | -0.70% |
| NB | 407,700 | 401,200 | -6,500 | -1.59% |
| AB | 2,577,300 | 2,563,100 | -14,200 | -0.55% |
| BC | 2,952,600 | 2,936,900 | -15,700 | -0.53% |
| ON | 8,217,000 | 8,191,000 | -26,000 | -0.32% |
Québec had the largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with 7,500 jobs added. PEI came in second, with 2,200 new jobs. In fact, they were the only provinces who saw an increase.
Ontario had the largest decrease, losing 26,000 jobs, followed by BC and Alberta at 15,700 and 14,200, respectively.
7 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in August. Of those, construction had the highest gains: 17,100.
The 9 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “professional, scientific and technical services” sector losing the most, at 26,100 jobs:
| Professional, scientific & technical services | -26,100 |
| Transportation & warehousing | -22,700 |
| Manufacturing | -19,200 |
| Educational services | -18,400 |
| Other services (except public administration) | -6,100 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | -5,600 |
| Information, culture & recreation | -5,200 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | -2,800 |
| Wholesale & retail trade | -1,800 |
Combined, these 9 industries lost 107,900 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “health care and social assistance”, increasing by nearly 22,000 jobs, a jump of 6.72%.
The “forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 16,5600 jobs, which was about 10.59%. They had the largest decrease in July, too.
| Aug 2024 | Aug 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care & social assistance | 321,500 | 343,100 | 21,600 | 6.72% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 141,500 | 157,400 | 15,900 | 11.24% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 135,200 | 150,200 | 15,000 | 11.09% |
| Accommodation & food services | 146,400 | 156,300 | 9,900 | 6.76% |
| Public administration | 124,800 | 133,200 | 8,400 | 6.73% |
| Business, building & other support services | 74,200 | 82,500 | 8,300 | 11.19% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 235,700 | 243,200 | 7,500 | 3.18% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 88,700 | 94,000 | 5,300 | 5.98% |
| Utilities | 19,700 | 24,000 | 4,300 | 21.83% |
| Agriculture | 34,600 | 36,500 | 1,900 | 5.49% |
| Construction | 246,000 | 247,500 | 1,500 | 0.61% |
| Educational services | 181,100 | 179,300 | -1,800 | -0.99% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 102,900 | 94,000 | -8,900 | -8.65% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 357,100 | 344,500 | -12,600 | -3.53% |
| Manufacturing | 154,300 | 138,200 | -16,100 | -10.43% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 155,800 | 139,300 | -16,500 | -10.59% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector shrunk by 28,400 between July and August. There were the same number of private-sector jobs as there were this time last year.
If we add in the 15,800 jobs lost in July, Alberta’s private sector has lost 44,200 jobs in the last two months.
In contrast, public sector jobs were up by 21,200 over July, and Alberta had 34,300 more public sector workers compared to August 2024.
Self employed jobs were down by 6,900 over July and up by 9,300 over August 2024.
Part-time jobs shrunk last month. Alberta lost 23,700 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between July and August.
In contrast, Alberta gained 9,600 full-time jobs during the same period, far short of making up for the 38,400 full-time jobs they lost in July. So far, in 2025, however, we’ve had a net loss of 1,000 full-time jobs.
These full-time gaine last month were all women workers (10,800), with 1,200 fewer men working full-time. The part-time jobs were a loss for both men (-21,100) and women (2,600).
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 2,119,400. That means that there are 232,700 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 82.68%, meaning that in the 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 barely increased.
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. June and August were the only months in 2025, so far, that it has risen above 82.5%.
Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta shrunk by 85¢, from $34.92 in July to $34.07 last month. This is the lowest full-time wages have been since last December.
Part-time wages remained unchanged from July at $19.00 an hour.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs shrunk from $32.00 in June and July to $31.93 last month, 7¢ behind British Columbia, putting Alberta in second place.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in August 2025, 85¢ behind BC and 7¢ ahead of Ontario.
| BC | $34.92 |
| AB | $34.07 |
| ON | $34.00 |
| QC | $32.67 |
| NL | $30.00 |
| SK | $30.00 |
| MB | $28.48 |
| NS | $28.47 |
| NB | $28.00 |
| PEI | $27.18 |
Alberta had the third smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months, down from second highest in July.
| Aug 2024 | Aug 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $25.50 | $27.18 | $1.68 |
| MB | $27.00 | $28.48 | $1.48 |
| NS | $27.00 | $28.47 | $1.47 |
| QC | $31.25 | $32.67 | $1.42 |
| BC | $33.73 | $34.92 | $1.19 |
| ON | $32.84 | $34.00 | $1.16 |
| NL | $29.00 | $30.00 | $1.00 |
| AB | $33.29 | $34.07 | $0.78 |
| NB | $27.50 | $28.00 | $0.50 |
| SK | $30.00 | $30.00 | $0.00 |
For part-time workers, Alberta was still the second highest median hourly wage, but this time we were behind BC
| BC | $28.69 |
| AB | $25.66 |
| ON | $24.75 |
| MB | $24.22 |
| NS | $23.97 |
| SK | $23.50 |
| NL | $23.36 |
| QC | $23.20 |
| NB | $22.60 |
| PEI | $21.36 |
Alberta drops to 4th place when we look at median hourly part-time wages over the last year.
| Aug 2024 | Aug 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $16.20 | $18.90 | $2.70 |
| NS | $17.25 | $18.85 | $1.60 |
| SK | $18.00 | $19.31 | $1.31 |
| AB | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| NB | $16.67 | $17.55 | $0.88 |
| ON | $18.50 | $19.00 | $0.50 |
| MB | $17.50 | $18.00 | $0.50 |
| QC | $19.00 | $19.23 | $0.23 |
| NL | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| BC | $21.00 | $21.00 | $0.00 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 5 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 2 and decreased in the other 9.
| Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | $21.00 | $27.69 | $6.69 |
| Educational services | $39.56 | $41.59 | $2.03 |
| Information, culture & recreation | $22.00 | $23.50 | $1.50 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | $51.00 | $52.00 | $1.00 |
| Wholesale & retail trade | $23.00 | $23.50 | $0.50 |
| Transportation & warehousing | $35.00 | $35.00 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation & food services | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| Manufacturing | $31.00 | $30.20 | -$0.80 |
| Health care & social assistance | $29.81 | $29.00 | -$0.81 |
| Public administration | $44.52 | $43.71 | -$0.81 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | $43.27 | $42.31 | -$0.96 |
| Construction | $37.00 | $36.00 | -$1.00 |
| Business, building & other support services | $24.00 | $23.00 | -$1.00 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | $39.39 | $38.00 | -$1.39 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $27.40 | $25.15 | -$2.25 |
| Utilities | $56.00 | $51.25 | -$4.75 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate jump to 8.4%. It was 7.8% in July, 6.8% in June, 7.4% in May, 7.1% in March and April, and 6.7% in December and the first 2 months of 2025.
This is the highest it has been since 2017, if we exclude the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alberta’s labour force increased last month, by 2,300. With having 14,200 fewer people actually working but only 2,300 more people available to work than in July, it makes sense that our unemployment increased as much a it did.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the second highest, behind only Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at 10.7%. PEI was in third place, at 8.1%, but their unemployment rate actually decreased last month.
All but 3 province saw an unemployment rate increase last month, but Alberta saw the largest increase in its unemployment rate. WE had the largest increase in July, too.
Canada saw an decrease in employment last month, with jobs across the country dropping by 56,500. Those gains were driven primarily by Ontario (-26,000), BC (-15,700), and Alberta (-14,200). Québec had the highest gain (7,500).
The national unemployment rate increased to 7.1%. Up from the 6.9% it was at in July, and higher than it was in the previous 3 months, too.
