Alberta job losses worst since 1982 recession

CALGARY—Alberta lost more jobs last year than in any year since the 1982 recession, revised numbers from Statistics Canada show.

The updated figures released Jan. 26 show the province lost 19,600 jobs in 2015, up from an earlier estimate of 14,600. That was much higher than the 17,200 jobs lost in the 2009 downturn and the most since the 1982 recession when Alberta shed 45,000 jobs.

The latest figures are also in stark contrast to 2014, when Alberta added 63,700 positions, more than half of all jobs created in Canada that year. Despite the higher number of job losses, Statistics Canada left Alberta’s unemployment rate unchanged at seven per cent for 2015. ATB Financial is predicting continued job pain for Alberta in the first half of 2016 with unemployment expected to edge up to 7.2 per cent, and the economy to shrink by 0.5 per cent.