Seasonally adjusted payroll employment* in Alberta fell by 32,236 jobs (-1.8 per cent) in January 2021 compared to December 2020.

Compared to 12 months earlier, the number of employee positions in the province was down by 209,674 (-10.4 per cent). The next largest gap on a proportional basis was in Ontario where year-over-year employment in January 2021 was down by 8.1 per cent (-532,038 jobs).

Nationally, the number of payroll jobs in January 2021 was down by 134,491 (-0.8 per cent) compared to December. Total employment was down by over 1.2 million jobs (-7.3 per cent) compared to January 2020.

In Alberta, employment in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector was down by 49.1 per cent (-19,164) in January 2021 compared a year earlier. In the accommodation and food services sector, the gap was 36.1 per cent (-59,560).

Seasonally adjusted average weekly earnings in the province were 4.5 per cent higher in January 2021 than in January 2020 as the concentration of job losses among lower-paid employees during the pandemic pushed up average earnings.

Earnings growth in Alberta over this period was lower than in the country as a whole (+8.3 per cent) in large part because of job losses among higher-paid oil and gas sector workers.

*The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours does not include self-employed workers, employees in the agricultural sector or owners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Queen Elizabeth I is associated with the definition of charitable organizations in Canada to this day. The current definition of charity can be traced back to the preamble of the Charitable Uses Act of 1601, which is also known as the Statute of Elizabeth.

Today’s trivia question: Which province had the lowest seasonally adjusted average weekly earnings in January 2021?