Alberta's unemployment plummets in December, hitting 6.7%
CTV
Alberta's unemployment rate dropped dramatically last month.
Alberta's unemployment rate dropped dramatically last month.
Statistics Canada released its December 2024 Labour Force Survey on Friday, which showed Alberta's unemployment rate sitting at 6.7 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent the month prior.
According to the report, employment increased by 35,000 (1.4 per cent), building on gains observed in three of the previous four months. The employment rate rose seven-tenths of a percentage points to 64.8 per cent.
In the wake of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's threat of tariffs, the December Labour Force Survey examined the number of Canadians who work in industries where 35 per cent or more of the jobs depend on the U.S. demand for Canadian Exports – found to be around 1.8 million people, representing 8.8 per cent of total employment.
The report indicates that the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake economic region has the highest share of employment in industries dependent on American demand for Canadian exports at 22.8 per cent.
Other economic regions in Alberta with above-average proportions of employment in these industries in 2024 included Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River.
Neither Calgary nor Lethbridge saw major movement in their unemployment rate in December, but Edmonton's rate dropped almost a full percentage point to sit at 7.4 per cent in December compared to 8.3 per cent the month before.
