Alberta boosts job numbers in spite of doom and gloom forecasts

OTTAWA (660 NEWS) – Some jobs numbers are shocking economists from coast to coast especially in this province.

Stats Canada said there were more than 94,000 jobs added in the month of November across the country.

This is coming as donations for charities in Alberta have plummeted, economic forecasts have been shaky, and some economists expect major layoffs in the oil and gas industry. Yet Alberta is one of the leaders when it comes to this growth.

We sit second in the country when it comes to jobs added. There were 24,000 positions added in the province, and we’re only behind Quebec when it comes to growth.

Stats Canada reports that growth is not coming at the expense of contractors as the rate of self-employed workers has stayed roughly the same, but there was an increase in public sector jobs.

“There was very strong gains in areas like health care and social assistance, in public administration, in information culture and recreation, those things that tend not to be driven as much by the energy price,” noted ATB Financial Chief Economist Todd Hirsch.

Hirsch believes these numbers are good news, but the price of oil is still a problem for Alberta.

“If we don’t see some positive news early in the new year, I think we will then start to see more layoffs. But I don’t expect we will see massive layoffs between now and the new year,” said Hirsch. “If we are hearing some positive news about pipelines going ahead or around this oil price differential, I think we’ll be in okay shape. But I think there are a lot of companies too that are just holding on by their fingernails.”

The unemployment rate dropped a full percentage point to sit at 6.3 per cent in the province.

In Calgary, that rate is down 0.3 percentage points to sit at 7.9 per cent.

Royce Mendes with CIBC Capital Markets is skeptical of any kind of celebration over these figures.

“These numbers are extremely volatile on a month-over-month basis.”

He believes there are factors that could lead to a swing towards less pleasant outcomes.

“There was a big increase in jobs in Alberta. Now you will remember, during November is when the price of Western Canadian Select oil prices fell dramatically. So it’s odd then that Alberta increased 24,000 jobs during the month. So there are major concerns about the sustainability of the jobs gained in November.”