The federal government released their November 2024 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta. This is the third increase in the last 4 months.
The net increase to jobs between last month and October was 24,300.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest increase between October and November. There were 12,900 more men over 25 at work last month compared to October. Those numbers jump just to 20,000 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
For women, however, just 1,500 more saw work compared to those working in October. When you add in the younger cohort, it increases to 4,200 more.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Oct 2024 | Nov 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | 2,543,000 | 2,567,300 | 24,300 | 0.96% |
| QC | 4,548,400 | 4,570,600 | 22,200 | 0.49% |
| MB | 717,000 | 723,600 | 6,600 | 0.92% |
| PEI | 92,100 | 94,800 | 2,700 | 2.93% |
| SK | 608,300 | 609,900 | 1,600 | 0.26% |
| BC | 2,829,300 | 2,830,700 | 1,400 | 0.05% |
| NS | 514,000 | 514,600 | 600 | 0.12% |
| NB | 401,400 | 400,400 | -1,000 | -0.25% |
| NL | 242,100 | 240,200 | -1,900 | -0.78% |
| ON | 8,101,100 | 8,095,400 | -5,700 | -0.07% |
Alberta saw the single largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with over 24,000 jobs added. Québec was in second place at 22,200.
Ontario, on the other hand, saw the largest decrease, losing nearly 6,000 jobs.
We drop slightly to second place, however, when we look at the new jobs as a percentage of October’s job numbers.
12 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in October. Of those, “wholesale and retail jobs” had the highest gains: 12,300.
Of the 4 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada, all of them saw job losses in Alberta, with the “forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas” sector losing the most, at just over 9,000 jobs:
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | -9,300 |
| Educational services | -2,400 |
| Construction | -800 |
| Utilities | -100 |
Combined, these 10 industries lost over 12,600 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing”, increasing by 12,500 new jobs, a jump of almost 10%.
The “agriculture” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing over 7,000 jobs.
| Nov 2023 | Nov 2024 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 128,100 | 140,600 | 12,500 | 9.76% |
| Manufacturing | 149,500 | 161,500 | 12,000 | 8.03% |
| Health care & social assistance | 330,300 | 342,100 | 11,800 | 3.57% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 232,500 | 241,300 | 8,800 | 3.78% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 98,800 | 106,800 | 8,000 | 8.10% |
| Accommodation & food services | 135,500 | 143,400 | 7,900 | 5.83% |
| Public administration | 117,800 | 124,700 | 6,900 | 5.86% |
| Educational services | 159,300 | 164,700 | 5,400 | 3.39% |
| Business, building & other support services | 80,200 | 85,200 | 5,000 | 6.23% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 86,400 | 90,100 | 3,700 | 4.28% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 149,000 | 149,900 | 900 | 0.60% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 366,000 | 365,100 | -900 | -0.25% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 148,500 | 147,200 | -1,300 | -0.88% |
| Utilities | 21,400 | 20,000 | -1,400 | -6.54% |
| Construction | 251,700 | 249,500 | -2,200 | -0.87% |
| Agriculture | 42,600 | 35,200 | -7,400 | -17.37% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 6,300 between October and November. However, there were just 172,900 more private-sector jobs than this time last year.
Public sector jobs were up by 45,000 over October, and Alberta had 126,900 more public sector workers compared to November 2023. Self employed jobs were down by 700 over October but up by just 29,500 over November 2023.
Part-time jobs shrunk last month. Alberta lost 4,200 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between September and October. It gained 28,500 full-time jobs during the same period.
These full-time gains were mostly men workers (17,500), with a still substantial 11,000 women working full-time. The part-time jobs were a loss for women (-6,800) but a gain men (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 2,110,200. That means that there are 223,500 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 82.2%, 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 2¢ an hour in November to $34.62. This is the highest that median wages have been for full-time workers.
Part-time wages, however, were unchanged at $19.00. Median hourly wages for part-time workers was at $19.00 in July, and this makes the 9th time since last November that we’ve been at $19.00 an hour for part-time workers.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs increased by 75¢, from $31.00 an hour in October to $31.75 an hour in November.
Alberta had the highest median full-time hourly wage in November 2024, tied with Ontario.
| ON | $34.62 |
| AB | $34.62 |
| BC | $34.35 |
| QC | $32.00 |
| SK | $31.00 |
| NL | $30.10 |
| NB | $29.00 |
| MB | $28.85 |
| NS | $28.61 |
| PEI | $27.00 |
This is the first time all year that Alberta has had a median full-time hourly wage higher than British Columbia.
Alberta had the third highest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months, followed closely behind by Ontario.
| Nov 2023 | Nov 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NB | $26.50 | $29.00 | $2.50 |
| NS | $26.44 | $28.61 | $2.17 |
| AB | $32.97 | $34.62 | $1.65 |
| ON | $33.00 | $34.62 | $1.62 |
| BC | $32.85 | $34.35 | $1.50 |
| QC | $31.00 | $32.00 | $1.00 |
| SK | $30.00 | $31.00 | $1.00 |
| MB | $28.00 | $28.85 | $0.85 |
| NL | $29.50 | $30.10 | $0.60 |
| PEI | $26.92 | $27.00 | $0.08 |
Things are less rosy for part-time workers in Alberta, falling behind BC ($22) and Québec ($20), and having to share the third-place spot with Prince Edward Island and Ontario.
| BC | $22.00 |
| QC | $20.00 |
| PEI | $19.00 |
| ON | $19.00 |
| AB | $19.00 |
| MB | $18.10 |
| NS | $18.00 |
| SK | $18.00 |
| NL | $17.00 |
| NB | $17.00 |
As well, Alberta was 1 of 4 provinces who haven’t seen a net increase in their part-time median hourly wage since last November.
| Nov 2023 | Nov 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC | $20.00 | $22.00 | $2.00 |
| MB | $17.00 | $18.10 | $1.10 |
| PEI | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| NS | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| ON | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| NL | $16.95 | $17.00 | $0.05 |
| NB | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| QC | $20.00 | $20.00 | $0.00 |
| SK | $18.00 | $18.00 | $0.00 |
| AB | $19.00 | $19.00 | $0.00 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 6 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 3, and decreased in all the rest.
| Oct 2024 | Nov 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | $49.00 | $52.41 | $3.41 |
| Construction | $35.00 | $37.00 | $2.00 |
| Business, building and other support services | $25.00 | $27.00 | $2.00 |
| Health care and social assistance | $30.00 | $32.00 | $2.00 |
| Educational services | $35.00 | $36.54 | $1.54 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $28.13 | $28.85 | $0.72 |
| Agriculture | $25.00 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $40.66 | $40.60 | -$0.06 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $24.00 | $23.00 | -$1.00 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $55.00 | $53.85 | -$1.15 |
| Manufacturing | $30.00 | $28.85 | -$1.15 |
| Public administration | $45.64 | $44.30 | -$1.34 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $32.00 | $30.08 | -$1.92 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $38.46 | $34.71 | -$3.75 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate increase to 7.5% last month, which is up from 7.3% in October, but down from 7.7% in August and the same as the 7.5% in September. This makes 9 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 31,400. With having 24,300 more people actually working and 31,400 more people available to work than in October, it makes sense that our unemployment rate 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 10.8%; Prince Edward Island, which was at 8.0%; and Ontario, which was at 7.6%.
Alberta was 1 of 5 provinces that saw its unemployment rate rise. It was tied with Québec for the third largest drop among all provinces.
The rate is up 1.6 percentage points since November 2023, the largest year-over-year increase in Canada.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 50,500. Those gains were driven primarily by Alberta (24,300) and Québec (22,200).
The national unemployment rate increased to 6.8%, up from 6.5% in October. It was also up from 5.8% last November.
3 replies on “Last month, AB hired 45K public sector workers”
Why do I remember Unemployment in Alberta being 8%+ in 2016/17? I was laid off in Sept 2016 & was given 64 weeks of EI payments because it was so so high. Only Ontario was slightly higher than Alberta at that time.
Yep, it maxed out at 8.9% in July 2016, but it was over 8% for several months during the period you mentioned.
This is probably the potential ‘scabs’ that the UCP are counting on to take low paying public service jobs and turning them into slaves, killing the power of unions.