Alberta leads Canada in creating jobs but not for the expected reason
Alberta added nearly 79,000 jobs over the past year, leading Canada in employment growth, with most new positions coming from health care, social assistance and public administration rather than the energy sector, a new report from RBC says. At the same time, however, the unemployment rate remains high. While strong energy production has not translated into major job gains, rapid population growth has increased demand for workers and services. “Part of the higher unemployment rate in Alberta has likely more to do with an imbalance between labour force growth and job creation rather than underlying economic weakness. Put simply, employment has not grown quickly enough to absorb rapid population growth,” the report notes.
