The number of jobs in the Calgary region rose in March but fell in the Edmonton region, according to data release on Friday by Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported that the employment gain from the previous month in the Calgary census metropolitan area was 5,400 positions while it fell by 1,400 positions in the Edmonton census metropolitan area.
On a year-over-year basis, Calgary’s job growth was 13,300 while Edmonton’s was 34,400.
The unemployment rate in Calgary actually rose from 7.6 per cent in February to 7.7 per cent in March while in Edmonton it increased from 7.0 per cent to 7.1 per cent.
In Alberta, employment overall was little changed in March as gains in full-time work were offset by losses in part-time work. With fewer people seeking jobs, the unemployment rate declined by 0.4 percentage points to 6.9 per cent. Employment in the province was virtually unchanged compared with March 2018. Employment decreased by 1,800 jobs month over month. However, on an annual basis employment was up by 4,600 positions.
StatsCan reported that Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 per cent in March but there were 7,200 job losses. Year over year, employment across Canada has grown by 331,600.
“The party had to end at some point, since Canadian jobs data had outrun other signposts of economic growth so dramatically, making the small retreat in employment in March not much of a surprise,” said economist Avery Shenfeld of CIBC Economics in a commentary note. “The 7,ooo drop in employment comes on the heels of huge job gains in January-February, and with the participation rate also coming down a tick from a prior spike, that still left the unemployment rate steady at 5.8 per cent.
“There’s nothing great about this report, but first-quarter hiring still looks very brisk, if anything still too brisk for an economy that’s likely chugging along at a one per cent to 1.5 per cent growth rate.”
Nathan Janzen, an economist with RBC Economics Research, also said in a commentary note that a dip in Canadian employment is not surprising given what looked like overstated earlier gains – employment was up 290,000 over the prior six months.
“The data should do little to change the broader narrative that labour markets in Canada still look pretty solid. But wage growth is still slower than it should be. There is little evidence that underlying inflation trends are at any risk of jumping higher. And higher interest rates alongside regulatory changes have already contributed to significantly slower household debt growth and housing markets. That leaves the Bank of Canada with plenty of flexibility to stay on the sidelines in terms of any interest rate hikes for now,” he said.
– Mario Toneguzzi for Calgary’s Business
The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.
