Edmonton economy sheds jobs for second consecutive month

Edmonton's unemployment rate rose unexpectedly last month, with the city losing 4,000, largely part-time jobs.

"We've now had two months of rather poor employment results," says city economist John Rose, "which is very unfortunate."

• Canada adds 11,000 jobs in July, jobless rate ticks down to 6.3%
• Calgary no longer has the highest unemployment rate of Canadian cities

Statistics Canada reported Friday that the city's jobless rate rose to 8.5 per cent last month, from 7.9 per cent in June.

"I was expecting that over the course of the summer we would see employment flat but not declining," Rose said.

The job losses were largely in transportation, warehousing, business services and education services, he said.

The good news, however, is the city made gains in full-time employment.

"We did see full-time employment gains in both manufacturing and construction, which is very heartening," Rose said. "Because both of those industries had taken very serious hits in mid-2016.

"It's a really good sign, because these are relatively high-paying full-time jobs."

• Edmonton's jobless rate jumps to 6.5%, up 1% from a year ago
• Alberta unemployment rate hits 7.4%, highest since 1996

Another good sign is the confidence in the city's economy shown by workers arriving in thecity, Rose said.

"We are continuing to see the working age population and the labour force continue to grow, which is a positive sign in the sense that people continue to come here and seek employment."