Diane Colley-Urquhart | Councillor of Ward 13 Calgary

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December 2015

Year end review: In 2015, the labour market in the Calgary Economic Region (CER) gained 22,200 in total employment, 13,700 of them in full-time positions and 8,600 in part-time. The industries that added the most jobs were Health care and social assistance (+16,000), Transportation and warehousing (+9,200) and Trade (+6,000) and Information, culture and recreation (+6,000). The industries that saw the most job cuts were Construction (-8,900), Professional, scientific and technical services (-7,100), and Mining, oil and gas (-5,500).

This month highlights: The seasonally unadjusted 3-month moving-average for the CER in December 2015 was as follows:

Month-over-month, total employment decreased by 10,000 positions; Job losses in full-time (-11,500) were partially offset by part-time job gains (+1,600). Unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent in the CER, compared to 6.4 per cent in Alberta and 6.5 per cent in Canada.

Year-over-year, total employment decreased by 7,300, mainly due to job cuts in full-time positions (-30,000) and in Transportation and warehousing (-10,500), Mining, oil and gas (-7,400), and construction (-6,700) industries. The total number of unemployed persons rose to 62,700 in December 2015 from 39,800 in December 2014. The number of people receiving regular EI benefits increased by 101 per cent to 19,530 persons in October 2015 from a year ago.

Calgary’s average hourly wage rate was $30.11 per hour, up from $29.62 in December 2014. The wage inflation rate was 2 per cent, decelerating from 3.7 per cent for the same time last year.

Over the past ten years, Calgary’s job market was the envy of the nation. People from other regions and provinces came in large numbers to work in the energy and related industries. Compared to the sharp fluctuations in total employment growth, the working age population in the CER grew at a relatively stable rate over the years (Chart 2). With the recent collapse of energy prices, total employment growth in the CER slowed dramatically, and may dip into negative territory in the months to come. Nonetheless, working age population in Calgary is still expected to grow, albeit at a lower rate.