Report on Alberta’s median income doesn’t paint the whole picture: economists

CALGARY (CityNews) – It may look like Albertans are getting paycheques fatter than the rest of the country but the latest income numbers may not paint the real picture of the current job market.

A Statistics Canada report said the median income after taxes is about $72,000 but one economist said that only points to the recent jobs and E.I. reports.

“We need to look at the holistic picture, what’s happening to unemployment, what’s happening to oil price because oil is important for us,” said Anupam Das with Mount Royal University. “What’s happening to the growth of individual provinces.”

With the provincial budget coming Thursday, many Albertans are hoping for job boosting measures.

Province-wide, the unemployment rate currently sits at 7.3 per cent, down half a percentage point since last January

Stats Canada also noted at the end of 2019, fewer Albertans were working full time and more were taking on part-time work.

Job firms like Manpower said people have adjusted to lower salaries but it comes with the slump in addition to jumping from the once-booming oil and gas industry to other sectors.

“This isn’t 2010, 11 or 12. The money isn’t there in oil and gas,” said Director of Manpower Alberta, Zak Olsen. “I think people are now (being) accustomed and understand that the money they were once getting paid isn’t quite what it is now. The adjustments are a bit more of a normal conversation now.”

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Manpower expects a busy few months ahead of construction season that’s expected to ramp, especially in north Calgary.

The firm also said it’s a bustling time for the finance sector.

“I still think it’s pretty optimistic for this year with some of the projects that are going on,” said Olsen. “It just might be a little tougher to find those opportunities than it once was.”

However, Das said oil prices directly impact construction and finance and he doesn’t expect much growth.

“It’s possible that people will lose jobs and if people don’t have jobs, they will reduce their demand and consumption.”

The United Conservative government is expected to table the 2020 budget Thursday afternoon.