Canada: 2016 job growth was strong in B.C., Ontario, while low oil prices and wildfire hammered Alberta
Jobs growth was strong in Ontario and B.C. in 2016, while unemployment in Alberta hit a 20-year high, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Alberta’s employment picture continued to be catastrophic. The province has been hammered by low oil prices, which fell in 2014, and by the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires.
Jobs linked to the fires themselves, such as cleanup, policing and firefighting, were dwarfed by lost employment – over eight million hours were lost in May and June of 2016 due to the fires, and only about 800,000 gained.
Nationally, the report paints a picture of a Canadian workforce that is becoming older and more part-time.
Employment growth was strongest among those 55 and over. The 55-and-over segment of the workforce has been growing steadily and has roughly doubled since the 1990s StatsCan said.
Over 85 per cent of Canadian employees had permanent jobs, which StatsCan defines as jobs without a predetermined end date. That rate has been unchanged since 2010.
Gains in part-time work were higher than full time. However, the percentage of people working part-time jobs who would prefer full-time jobs fell slightly. About three-quarters of Canadians with part-time jobs want to work part time, either because of other commitments like education or because of personal preference
2016 saw a decline in full-time jobs among men (-0.4%) and an increase in full-time jobs among women (+0.8%).
Falling energy prices hit the oil and gas sector hard — it lost 10 per cent of its employees in 2016, continuing the slump that started in 2014. Job numbers in manufacturing, on the other hand, have been stable since 2009.
Alberta’s unemployment rate has hit its highest level in 22 years. And Calgary is leading the way with a jobless rate at a staggering 10.3%. Here’s Jayme Doll with the numbers, but also how some are starting to find a silver lining.
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