Alberta has added 73,000 jobs since Sept. 2023

Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Trade Matt Jones spoke about the province’s economic strength.

“While Alberta only accounts for 11.7 per cent of Canada’s population, our province leads the nation in net employment growth, with 42.8 per cent of the country’s employment gains. With a highly skilled workforce, business-friendly policies, diversified economy and affordable, exceptional lifestyle, Alberta continues to be the economic engine of Canada,” said Jones.

He added, “Our province leads the nation in net employment growth and last week, the Canadian Survey on Business Confidence showed optimism among Alberta businesses was up considerably over the last 12 months, out-pacing the rest of the country.”

The industries with the largest jobs gains over the past month in Alberta include construction (+12,000), wholesale and retail trade (+11,500), and professional, scientific and technical services (+7,400).

On the other hand, sectors such as healthcare and social assistance (-6,900), educational services (-6,600), and information, culture and recreation (-5,200) saw declines.

In the Lethbridge Census Metropolitan Area (Lethbridge CMA), which includes some immediately-surrounding communities, the population grew by 400 between January and February to 114,900.

Approximately 1,300 people in the Lethbridge CMA gained employment in that time while 400 lost their jobs.

However, as 1,200 people exited the labour pool, the unemployment rate rose from 5.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent in February.

More details on the unemployment figures are on the Statistics Canada website.

READ MORE: Alberta lead Canada in population growth in Q3

READ MORE: Alberta has youngest population in Canada

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