The federal government released their October 2024 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.
The net increase to jobs between last month and September was 13,200. Keep in mind that we lost 20,400 jobs between April and May, and gained all but 100 of those back by August, which puts us only 5,500 jobs above where we were in April.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest increase between September and October. There were 6,200 more men over 25 at work last month compared to September. Keep in mind that men who were 25 years old or older lost over 11,000 jobs in August and September combined, so they’re still playing catchup.
Those numbers jump just to 12,700 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
For women, however, 4,200 more saw work compared to those working in September. When you add in the younger cohort, it drops to just to 500 more.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Sep 2024 | Oct 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | 2,529,800 | 2,543,000 | 13,200 | 0.52% |
| BC | 2,821,000 | 2,829,300 | 8,300 | 0.29% |
| QC | 4,541,900 | 4,548,400 | 6,500 | 0.14% |
| NB | 398,100 | 401,400 | 3,300 | 0.83% |
| NL | 241,600 | 242,100 | 500 | 0.21% |
| PEI | 93,200 | 92,100 | -1,100 | -1.18% |
| MB | 718,300 | 717,000 | -1,300 | -0.18% |
| SK | 610,300 | 608,300 | -2,000 | -0.33% |
| NS | 516,100 | 514,000 | -2,100 | -0.41% |
| ON | 8,112,000 | 8,101,100 | -10,900 | -0.13% |
Alberta saw the single largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with over 13,200 jobs added. British Columbia was in second place at 8,300.
Ontario, on the other hand, saw the largest decrease, losing nearly 11,000 jobs.
We drop slightly to second place, however, when we look at the new jobs as a percentage of September’s job numbers.
9 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in October. Of those, “construction” had the highest gains: 8,500.
Of the 7 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada, all of them saw job losses in Alberta, with the “wholesale and retail trade” sector losing just under 10,000 jobs:
| Wholesale and retail trade | -9,700 |
| Public administration | -8,100 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | -3,300 |
| Health care and social assistance | -3,200 |
| Accomodation and food services | -1,100 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | -500 |
| Transportation and warehousing | -300 |
Combined, these 10 industries lost over 26,200 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “construction”, increasing by nearly 14,000 new jobs, a jump of 5.88%.
The “wholesale and retail trade” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing over 18,300 jobs.
| Oct 2023 | Oct 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 236,400 | 250,300 | 13,900 | 5.88% |
| Health care and social assistance | 327,500 | 339,700 | 12,200 | 3.73% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | 145,100 | 156,500 | 11,400 | 7.86% |
| Manufacturing | 150,700 | 160,400 | 9,700 | 6.44% |
| Public administration | 112,700 | 122,200 | 9,500 | 8.43% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 230,800 | 239,900 | 9,100 | 3.94% |
| Educational services | 161,400 | 167,100 | 5,700 | 3.53% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | 130,900 | 136,200 | 5,300 | 4.05% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 101,100 | 106,000 | 4,900 | 4.85% |
| Information, culture and recreation | 83,700 | 87,300 | 3,600 | 4.30% |
| Business, building and other support services | 80,300 | 82,700 | 2,400 | 2.99% |
| Accommodation and food services | 139,300 | 141,300 | 2,000 | 1.44% |
| Utilities | 19,600 | 20,100 | 500 | 2.55% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 150,800 | 146,500 | -4,300 | -2.85% |
| Agriculture | 43,500 | 34,000 | -9,500 | -21.84% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 371,100 | 352,800 | -18,300 | -4.93% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 22,100 between September and September. However, there were just 1,300 more private-sector jobs than this time last year.
Public sector jobs were down by 3,500 over September, and Alberta had 800 fewer public sector workers compared to October 2023. Self employed jobs were down by 5,400 over September but down by just 1,600 over October 2023.
Part-time jobs rose last month. Alberta gained 5,000 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between September and October. It gained 8,200 full-time jobs during the same period.
These full-time gains were all men workers (17,100), as 8,900 fewer women were working full-time. The part-time job losses, on the other hand, were all women: 9,400, compared to a loss of 4,400 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 2,081,700. That means that there are 195,000 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 81.9%, 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, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta increased by 49¢ an hour in October. This is the highest that median wages have been this high for full-time workers.
Part-time wages saw a drop, however, decreasing by $0.54. Median hourly wages for part-time workers was at $19.00 in July, and this makes the 8th time since last November that we’ve been back at $19.00 an hour.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs remained unchanged from September at $31.00 per hour.
Alberta had the second highest median full-time hourly wage in September 2024, behind British Columbia.
| BC | $34.62 |
| AB | $34.60 |
| ON | $34.10 |
| QC | $32.00 |
| SK | $31.50 |
| NL | $30.00 |
| MB | $28.57 |
| NB | $28.47 |
| NS | $28.00 |
| PEI | $27.00 |
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 tied with Ontario and Saskatchewan for third place.
| BC | $22.00 |
| QC | $20.00 |
| ON | $19.00 |
| SK | $19.00 |
| AB | $19.00 |
| PEI | $18.50 |
| MB | $18.00 |
| NS | $17.86 |
| NB | $17.60 |
| NL | $17.05 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 6 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 7, and decreased in all the rest.
| Sep 2024 | Oct 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $38.46 | $40.66 | $2.20 |
| Public administration | $44.00 | $45.64 | $1.64 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $53.85 | $55.00 | $1.15 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $27.00 | $28.13 | $1.13 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $37.50 | $38.46 | $0.96 |
| Health care and social assistance | $29.35 | $30.00 | $0.65 |
| Utilities | $49.00 | $49.00 | $0.00 |
| Manufacturing | $30.00 | $30.00 | $0.00 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| Business, building and other support services | $25.00 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| Educational services | $35.00 | $35.00 | $0.00 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $24.00 | $24.00 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $32.16 | $32.00 | -$0.16 |
| Agriculture | $26.00 | $25.00 | -$1.00 |
| Construction | $36.54 | $35.00 | -$1.54 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate drop to 7.3% last month, which is down from 7.7% in August and 7.5% in September. This makes 8 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 8,200. With having 13,200 more people actually working and 8,200 more people available to work than in September, it makes sense that our unemployment rate decreased.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the third highest, behind Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at 10.1%, and Prince Edward Island, which was at 10.0%.
Alberta was 1 of 4 provinces that saw its unemployment rate drop. It was tied with BC for the second largest drop among all provinces.
The rate is up 1.4 percentage points since October 2023, the third largest year-over-year increase in Canada. PEI increased by 3.7 points and Saskatchewan increased by 1.6 points over the last year.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 14,500. Those gains were driven primarily by Alberta (13,200) and BC (8,300).
The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.5%, which is where it was at in September. It was also up from 5.7% last October.
