Employment in Alberta was little changed in April after six months of increases.

According to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, seasonally-adjusted employment in the province decreased slightly by 0.1% (1,900 jobs) in April compared to a 0.6% (13,700) increase in March.

Full-time employment edged up by 0.2% (4,300) while part-time employment went down by 1.4% (6,300).

Despite the small loss, employment in Alberta was 3.2% (76,700) higher than it was in April 2022—the third strongest growth after Prince Edward Island (5.9%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (3.4%).

Alberta’s unemployment rate increased from 5.7% in March to 5.9% in April.

Driven entirely by growth in part-time work, employment in Canada increased by 0.2% (41,400 jobs) in April. Part-time employment increased by 47,600 (1.3%) while full-time jobs decreased by 6,200 (0.04%).

The gain exceeded the expectations of analysts surveyed by Reuters who pegged the monthly rise at 20,000.

The national economy has added 414,000 jobs since April 2022 for an increase of 2.1%.

The national unemployment rate held steady at 5.0%, just above the record low of 4.9%.

Although the labour remained tight in April, weak GDP growth in 2023 is expected to start having a noticeably negative effect in the months ahead.

Monday’s Owl will dig into employment trends by industry.

*The Labour Force Survey estimates for April are for the week of April 9 to 15, 2023.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The celebration of Mexican-American culture known as Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Today’s trivia question: As of 2022, what percentage of employment in Alberta was in the goods-producing sector?