Latest job numbers shatter expectations, send positive signals about Calgary economy [Video]

The creation of 91,000 new jobs in Canada last month is more than three times the number of new jobs most analysts were expecting (between 10,000 and 25,000), shattering expectations and prompting Calgary Economic Development to issue a rather optimistic assessment of the city’s job market and economy.

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show Canada’s unemployment rate in December 2024 was 6.7 per cent — that’s 0.1 per cent lower than it was in November — also beating analysts expectations.

In Alberta, the ‘unemployment’ rate fell to 6.7 per cent in December, down .8 per cent from November and led by a big drop in Edmonton’s jobless rate which plummeted from 8.3 per cent in November to 7.4 per cent in December.

Calgary, meanwhile, only saw a slight decrease from 7.9 per cent in November to 7.8 per cent in December — that’s the second-highest unemployment rate amongst Canada’s major metropolitan areas, eclipsed only …