September 2016

Labour Market Review

Highlights

September’s Labour Force Survey for the Calgary Economic Region (CER) and Calgary Census Metropolitan Area (CCMA) shows the following:

  • Month-over-month, total employment in the CER was little changed (+300), with gains in part-time positions (+4,700) offset by losses in full-time (-4,300). Year-over-year, total employment declined by 19,300 positions, with job losses in full-time (-36,600) partially offset by gains in part-time (+17,400). The goods-producing sector lost more jobs (-10,600) than the service-producing sector (-8,700).
  • The unemployment rate in the CER was tabulated at 9.7 per cent, compared to 8.0 per cent in Edmonton, 8.6 per cent in Alberta, and 7.1 per cent in Canada.
  • The average weekly wage rate in the Calgary CMA increased by 0.5 per cent year-over-year to $1,135, but the total wage bills for the region decreased by $14.8 million due to the job cuts (-16,400) in various industries.
  • In July, the number of employment insurance (EI) recipients in the Calgary CMA increased by 96 per cent to 33,210 persons from a year ago. The jump in the EI numbers may due to individuals who have exhausted their severance packages now beginning to collect EI benefits.
  • The labour market in Calgary grew substantially during the recent commodity super-boom; with most of the growth (82 per cent) in the service industries. The job quality in the CER was among the highest in Canada, even with the job losses during current recession.

Click to view the full Labour Market Review .

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