With the removal of most pandemic-related public health restrictions in Alberta on July 1, the number of seasonally adjusted jobs in the province increased by 12,300 for a monthly growth rate of 0.6%. (The numbers reflect conditions during the week of July 11 to 17.)

Full-time jobs went up by 1.1% (20,100) while part-time jobs went down by 1.8% (7,800).

The job growth combined with fewer people participating in the labour market pushed the unemployment rate down in July to 8.5% compared to 9.3% in June. Although still high, this is the lowest it has been since before the pandemic.

Compared to the pre-pandemic benchmark of February 2020, employment in the province was down by 1.6% or 35,400 jobs.

Nationally, employment rose by 94,000 (0.5%) in July and the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 7.5%. Employment was 246,000 (1.3%) below the February 2020 level.

Answer to the previous trivia question: At 37%, Ontario had the highest proportion of people working from home between April 2020 to June 2021. It was 31% nationally and 27% in Alberta.

Today’s trivia question: When did the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) come into effect?