According to the latest Labour Force Survey results, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate improved just slightly, going from 11.1 per cent in November to 11.0 per cent in December.

There were 271,400 Albertans actively looking for work but unable to find it in December.

The survey reflects labour market conditions during the week of December 6 to 12 before some businesses in Alberta were required to temporarily close, reduce capacity or limit their in-person access as of December 13.

The slight improvement in the unemployment rate was due to over 17,000 Albertans leaving the labour force in December rather than an increase in the number of jobs.

Employment in the province actually fell by 11,900 positions (-0.5 per cent). Compared to December 2019, the number of jobs was down by 132,700 (-5.7 per cent).

Over 30,000 full-time positions (1.7 per cent) were added in December while part-time employment fell by 42,200 (-9.5 per cent).

Nationally, the unemployment rate barely moved, going from 8.5 per cent in November to 8.6 in December. A total of 62,600 jobs were lost (-0.3 per cent).

On a year-over-basis, there were 571,600 fewer jobs in Canada (-3.0 per cent) than in December 2019.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to Guinness World Records, the first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson in 1971.

Today’s trivia question: Are employees on maternity/parental leave considered by the Labour Force Survey to be employed, unemployed or not in the labour force?