‘Much stronger than I was expecting’: Edmonton region adds 3,500 jobs in March

The Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) picked up 3,500 new jobs in March 2016. It marks 10 months of expanding employment in the region.

Even though Edmonton’s March numbers were thanks to part-time jobs, average weekly earnings in Edmonton are up 4.5 per cent in the past year.

“I’m very pleasantly surprised with the numbers,” John Rose, Edmonton’s Chief Economist said. “They’re much stronger than what I was expecting both for the Edmonton region and the province as a whole. Remarkably strong numbers for the province in particular.”

READ MORE: Edmonton job fair draws hundreds of people seeking employment 

Rose said there had been a downward trend in employment in Alberta over the course of the past year and news of layoffs in the energy and construction sectors were common.

“I would have expected the unemployment rate to go up,” Rose said. “Instead, what we saw for the province of Alberta was the unemployment rate came down very significantly from 7.9 to 7.1 per cent. Very dramatic drop.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I would have expected the unemployment rate to go up," Rose said. "Instead, what we saw for the province of Alberta was the unemployment rate came down very significantly from 7.9 to 7.1 per cent. Very dramatic drop."

Alberta is one of only four provinces across the country to see increased job numbers in March, joining Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta added 19,000 jobs in March; 14,000 of them were full-time positions.

READ MORE: Nearly 19k jobs created in Alberta last month despite low oil prices

The national unemployment rate went down to 7.1 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday.

READ MORE: Why you can’t trust Canada’s unemployment rate 

Overall, the Edmonton region added roughly 27,000 jobs between March 2015 and March 2016. Annual employment growth in Edmonton in March 2016 was 3.6 per cent – far above the national average.

“Recent job losses in construction and manufacturing demonstrate that Edmonton’s economy is not immune to the impact of lower oil prices,” a news release from Rose explained. “However, the region’s diverse economy has so far been able to absorb this negative shock and continue to expand.”

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That growth isn’t expected to continue through 2016.

“The employment gains that we saw at the provincial level are very unlikely to be repeated in the months to come,” said Rose.

“Unfortunately, as we move into the second and third quarter, you’ll see job growth in the Edmonton region slow considerably and we may see some months with some job losses.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Unfortunately, as we move into the second and third quarter, you'll see job growth in the Edmonton region slow considerably and we may see some months with some job losses."

The city said jobs in healthcare, logistics, education and transportation were up but the construction, manufacturing and energy sectors saw job losses.

Edmonton’s unemployment rate did increase slightly, due to more people coming to the city in search of work, Rose said.

Economic development minister, Deron Bilous plans to give Albertans an update on the province’s jobs program on Monday.

“We recognize that there still are many Albertans that have been laid off and our government is going to do our part to work with industry and private business to get Albertans back to work.”

With files from Sarah Kraus, Global News