Latest job numbers shatter expectations, send positive signals about Calgary economy

The creation of 91,000 new jobs in Canada last month is more than three times the number of new jobs most analysts were expecting (between 10,000 and 25,000), shattering expectations and prompting Calgary Economic Development to issue a rather optimistic assessment of the city’s job market and economy.

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show Canada’s unemployment rate in December 2024 was 6.7 per cent — that’s 0.1 per cent lower than it was in November — also beating analysts expectations.

In Alberta, the ‘unemployment’ rate fell to 6.7 per cent in December, down .8 per cent from November and led by a big drop in Edmonton’s jobless rate which plummeted from 8.3 per cent in November to 7.4 per cent in December.

Calgary, meanwhile, only saw a slight decrease from 7.9 per cent in November to 7.8 per cent in December — that’s the second-highest unemployment rate amongst Canada’s major metropolitan areas, eclipsed only by Toronto’s jobless rate of 8.4 per cent.

But during that same month-long time period, Calgary Economic Development says the city added 16,000 jobs.

That’s reflected in the new Stats Canada numbers that show that between Dec. 2023 and Dec. 2024, Calgary’s ’employment rate’ — or proportion of the population aged 15 and older who have jobs —  jumped by 4 per cent with 100,00 more people finding work, a rate twice the national average.

Kate Koplovich, the director of strategy for Calgary Economic Development, Kate Koplovich, called it “a really good sign” and it means more of the people moving to Calgary are finding work.

“There’s always a lag in the number of newcomers finding jobs, and what we are actually seeing now is unemployment went down and our economy grew so we are really looking at 2025 to see more of that job market balancing out where newcomers are finding those jobs,” said Koplovich.

Health care and social assistance, construction and wholesale and retail trade are the areas of Calgary’s economy that saw the most job growth and most of them were full-time jobs, which Koplovich called “a reassuring sign for the city that should lead to continued increases in household spending.”

The largest decline was in professional services and technical services.

Overall, “Calgary’s labour market closed 2024 on a stronger foot,” said Koplovich.   “This positive trend signals a stronger position for Calgary as we face a year of looming geopolitical uncertainty.”

Combined with the most recent inflation number of 1.9 per cent, the latest national jobs report also has many analysts expecting the Bank of Canada to announce another interest rate cut of 0.25 per cent later this month.

— with files from The Canadian Press.