Alberta’s labour market in July* looked a lot like it did in June.

Employment in the province was virtually the same, growing by just 300. An uptick in full-time positions (+15,000) was offset by a drop in part-time employment (-14,700).

The provincial unemployment rate improved slightly, going from an already low 4.9% in June to 4.8% in July.

The situation was much the same in Canada as a whole with employment pulling back by 0.2% (-30,600) and the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.9%.

Things are, however, significantly better than they were a year ago. Since July 2021, employment in Alberta has increased by 133,500 (+6.0%) and the unemployment rate has shed 3.7 percentage points.

Nationally, year-over-year employment grew by 3.6% and the unemployment rate fell by 2.5 percentage points.

Looking ahead, higher interest rates are expected to cool the economy and, in turn, put downward pressure on job growth over the second half of the year.

*July Labour Force Survey data reflect labour market conditions during the week of July 10 to 16, 2022.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The Rocky Mountains stretch as far south as New Mexico.

Today’s trivia question: The top of which mountain is the highest point in Alberta?