Alberta's unemployment plummets in December, hitting 6.7%

A stock photo of an office. (Pexels/@Proxyclick)

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.

Industries dependant on US

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.

Looking at the cities

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.

Calgary’s unemployment rate sat at 7.8 per cent in December – down from 7.9 the month prior – the city with the fourth-highest unemployment rate among the 36 cities surveyed.

“Mirroring national trends, Calgary’s labour market closed 2024 on a stronger foot, marked by an increase of 16,000 jobs," said Kate Koplovich, director of strategy at Calgary Economic Development.

"This positive trend signals a stronger position for Calgary as we face a year of looming geopolitical uncertainty."

Lethbridge dropped to 5.5 per cent in December from 5.7 per cent in November.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in December.

The December Labour Force Survey examined the week of Dec. 8 to 14.