Alberta Trades Jobs Work Careers Edmonton Calgary

Canwest News Service

Published: Friday, February 08, 2008

OTTAWA — Canada’s unemployment rate fell to a 33-year low of 5.8 per
cent in January from six per cent in the previous month as 46,000 jobs
were added to the economy, four times more than expected.

Statistics Canada said Friday that all the net total of new jobs were full-time positions in the private sector.

Most economists had expected job growth of about 10,000 in January
after a revised 2,900 decline in positions a month earlier. Statistics
Canada had originally reported 18,700 job losses in December.

Last month’s employment total brings job growth over the past
year to 337,000. “Gains in January were widespread across a number of
industries, most notably in professional, scientific and technical
services and in construction,” the federal agency said. “Overall
employment gains were tempered by decreases in information, culture and
recreation, as well as in retail and wholesale trade.”

While the job picture was strong across Canada, the agency
said Alberta, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador all saw
record employment rates in January.

Meanwhile, wage growth remained strong last month, with a
year-over-year increase in average hourly wages of 4.9 per cent for the
second consecutive month. “This was well above the most recent increase
of 2.4 per cent in consumer prices,” Statistics Canada said.

“January also marked the sixth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in hourly wages at or above four per cent.”

The Canadian dollar jumped after the employment numbers were
released — trading just above parity with the U.S. dollar, after
closing at 98.93 cents US on Thursday.

“The (employment) rebound lines up well with other recent
indicators showing a bounce in January activity from a December lull,”
said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

“The details of the report were also strong from head to toe.”

The Bank of Canada last month lowered its economic growth
forecast for 2008, due to a weakening U.S. economy that has hurt
exports south of the border of Canadian manufactured goods.

“So far, the Canadian labour market is holding up remarkably well,
despite the slowdown in the U.S.,” said Jacqui Douglas, economics
strategist at TD Securities.

“This reinforces the idea that the Bank of Canada will not
need to make the deep, protracted rate cuts that we’ve seen from the
(U.S.) Federal Reserve to keep the Canadian economy afloat.”

The Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate by a quarter point to four per cent on Jan. 22.

Douglas said the central bank will likely cut another half a percentage
point at its March 4 meeting, followed by a quarter-point reduction on
April 22.

Unemployment percentage rate in January by province:

Newfoundland and Labrador 12.2
Prince Edward Island 10.6
Nova Scotia 7.4
New Brunswick 8.2
Quebec 6.8
Ontario 6.3
Manitoba 3.8
Saskatchewan 3.9
Alberta 3.2
British Columbia 4.1

Unemployment percentage rate in January by city:

St. John’s, N.L. 7
Halifax 4.5
Saint John, N.B. 4.6
Montreal 6.9
Ottawa-Gatineau, Ont./Que. 4.4
Toronto 6.7
Winnipeg 4.5
Regina 4.2
Saskatoon 3.5
Calgary 2.9
Edmonton 3.6
Vancouver 4
Victoria 3.1

©Canwest News Service 2008

Canwest News Services and Bloomberg News

Published: Saturday, February 09, 2008

January
was a record-setting month for the Canadian labour market as the
national unemployment rate fell to a 33-year low of 5.8 per cent from
six per cent the previous month.

Canada added 46,400 jobs in
January, more than four times as many as anticipated, indicating the
full impact of a slowdown in the U.S. has yet to spread through the
country’s economy.

British Columbia’s employment rate, meanwhile, hit a record high of 63.9 per cent with an increase of 12,000 jobs.

January’s employment total brings job growth over the past year in Canada to 337,000.

“Gains
in January were widespread across a number of industries, most notably
in professional, scientific and technical services and in
construction,” Statistics Canada said in its monthly labour force
survey. “Overall employment gains were tempered by decreases in
information, culture and recreation, as well as in retail and wholesale
trade.”

Canadians are finding work even as the currency hovers
near parity with the U.S. dollar, hurting the factory exports that make
up about a third of Canada’s economic output. The Bank of Canada, which
cut its 2008 growth forecast because of weak U.S. demand for
manufactured goods, now may have less need to lower borrowing costs,
economists said.

“It’s hard to make the case for any urgency from
the Bank of Canada,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO
Capital Markets in Toronto. Porter changed his forecast for the next
rate decision on March 4 to a quarter-point cut from his earlier call
for the bank to ease by a half point, citing the job gains and a
separate report showing higher housing starts.

Statistics Canada
said the net total of new jobs were in full-time positions in the
private sector. Most economists had expected job growth of about 10,000
in January after a revised 2,900 decline in positions a month earlier.
Statistics Canada had originally reported 18,700 job losses in December.

While
the job picture was strong across Canada, the agency said Alberta, B.C.
and Newfoundland and Labrador all saw record employment rates in
January. Alberta continues to lead the country with an unemployment
rate of 3.2 followed by Manitoba at 3.8, Saskatchewan at 3.9 and B.C.
at 4.1.

Victoria’s unemployment rate slipped to 3.1 last month, making it the second-lowest rate among Canadian cities to Calgary’s 2.9.

While
Vincent Ferrao of Statistics Canada said the slip in Victoria is not
considered statistically significant, he pointed out it was driven by
an influx of new people entering the market.

There were 900 new faces in Victoria’s labour market last month while the number of people actually working climbed by just 500.

Ferrao
also pointed out the number of people employed in Victoria has grown
five per cent, or 9,000 people, in the last 12 months.

“It’s been driven by wholesale and retail trade, which is up 5,000, and that industry now employs 33,000 people,” he said.

Ferrao
said there were also significant increases in the accommodation and
food services sector which grew by nearly 2,000 people to employ a
total of 17,000, and the scientific and technical sector which also
grew by about 2,000 to employ 15,500 people.

Meanwhile, a
commodities boom in Western Canada continues to pressure wages. Hourly
pay rose 4.9 per cent in January from a year ago, matching the previous
month’s pace, which was the fastest since at least 1998.

– With files from Andrew A. Duffy

CALGARY
- Alberta’s booming economy and a continuing shortage of skilled
workers across the country will strain the existing workforce and
increase the reliance on foreign workers, according to a 10-year job
forecast released by Calgary Economic Development on Tuesday.

The study found the areas of professional services, health care, retail and construction need the most attention.

The Calgary region will require an additional 244,000 skilled workers
over the next decade. Included on the list of jobs in demand are retail
salespeople, nurses, financial auditors, petroleum engineers,
carpenters, electricians, teachers and computer programmers.

“The labour shortage is not an issue that only Calgary, Alberta
or Canada is experiencing. Basically every balanced economy is
experiencing a labour shortage and we’re all competing for that
labour,” noted Adam Legge, chief economist for Calgary Economic
Development.

Although some of the jobs will be filled through increased
access to education for young people, about half will probably have to
come from skilled immigrant labour, he said, and that is where Canada
is lagging behind.

Legge worries that other countries are succeeding more at
luring highly skilled immigrant workers, by reducing the timeframe and
quickly recognizing international credentials.

“Two countries that come to mind are Australia and New Zealand,
who are both aggressive in terms of recruitment fairs as well as the
time it takes to get someone in working on the ground in those two
countries.”

“We’re at risk of not attracting and recruiting the world’s
best talent. Right now they can go anywhere they want. They have a
ticket. If they’ve got the skills and credentials, they can go anywhere
in the world and it’s a very competitive landscape.”

Canada has so far done a poor job of adding qualified
immigrants to the workforce, says Concordia University professor Eric
Shragge, who has studied the issue.

“You see a general tendency of bringing in people, often with
high levels of university and other education and then over the long
term they end up being at the bottom of the labour market both in terms
of wages and the types of jobs they get,” Shragge said. “Partly that
has a lot to do with recognition of their training and skills.”

Shragge said the federal government seems more interested in
expanding the temporary worker program, where employees are brought in
for up to eight months and then return home.

“It’s bringing in workers for the short term, and when people
come like that, they aren’t covered by programs or have rights. Wages
are lower and conditions are worse.”

The expansion of the temporary worker program is also a concern of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

“Instead of creating an immigrant workforce for the future, they
are in the process of creating disposable, underclass workers which may
meet the short-term interests but will not do what needs to be done for
the future,” said federation president Gil McGowan.

“Real immigration is a big part of the solution to deal with
the labour force crunch, but so far the government has demonstrated
absolutely no understanding about what actually needs to be done.”

An official with Citizenship and Immigration said the
government has taken a number of steps to improve the immigrant worker
problem.

“There are measures that have been put in place to help
expedite the process and make it a little bit faster,” said Danielle
Norris, who pointed to a pilot project in B.C. and Alberta called
Occupations Under Pressure.

“There are certain occupations that are designated as extremely
important and they can’t fill from anywhere here in Canada,” she said.
“It has taken the recognition of credentials from five months to five
days and covers such occupations as plumbers, pipefitters, welders and
roofers as well as engineers.”

The government is also looking at ways to allow international
students within Canada who already have degrees or work experience to
apply for permanent resident status.

“We’ve trained them. They have the right experience so we’re
going to work hard to keep them here instead of sending them back,”
said Norris.

Bill Graveland, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Published Tuesday January 29th, 2008