The job vacancy rate* in Alberta ended 2023 at 3.9% in December, unchanged from the month before.

This is down from the peak seen in April 2022 (5.3%), but is still above the pre-pandemic level (2.7% in February 2020) and the national average (3.6% in December).

Alberta’s job vacancy rate has been higher than the national average since August 2023.

Among the provinces, B.C. (4.2%) and Saskatchewan (4.2%) had the highest the vacancy rate in December while Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest at 3.1% 

Looking at 2023 as a whole, the average annual vacancy rate in Alberta came in at 4.2% compared to 4.8% in 2022 and 2.6% in 2019.

The number of employees in Alberta receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—was virtually unchanged in December, but was 2.5% higher than 12 months earlier.

We will get a picture of how the job vacancy rate varies across sectors at the end of 2023 when quarterly data by industry are released later in March.

As of the third quarter of 2023, the accommodation and food services and construction sectors had the highest job vacancy rates in Alberta.

*The number of job vacancies as a percentage of all occupied and vacant jobs. Monthly data have been seasonally adjusted.

Answer to the previous trivia question: As of the first quarter of 2024, 14.5% of private sector businesses in Alberta were majority-owned by women.

Today’s trivia question: How long does it take the Earth to complete one revolution around the sun?