Friday’s Owl highlighted the strong overall growth in employment in Alberta in January with the total number of jobs up by 0.9% compared to December and by 4.3% compared to the previous January.

Four of sixteen sectors lost ground compared to December with transportation and warehousing posting the largest decrease in employment at -7.5%.

On a year-over-year basis, only two sectors—natural resources* (-10.1%) and health care and social assistance (-1.1%)—had lower employment levels than in January 2022.

However, when we look at how employment has changed since just before the disruptive effects of the pandemic, 7 of the 16 main industry categories have yet to catch-up.

Compared to February 2020, employment in the primary agriculture and accommodation and food services sectors were still down by 17.8% and 15.5%, respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum, the professional, scientific and technical services sector has grown the most at +36.9%.

*Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas

Answer to the previous trivia question: Charles Tupper holds the record for the shortest term of any Canadian Prime Minister at just 69 days?

Today’s trivia question: Who holds the record for the youngest Prime Minister of Canada?