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Canada's Changing Labour Force, 2006 Census: The provinces and territories
Subprovincial trends
Calgary: Lowest unemployment rate of all census metropolitan areas
Fuelled by Alberta's wealth in natural resources, Calgary had the nation's third fastest employment growth, preceded by only Barrie and Kelowna.
Calgary's employed population reached 632,000 in 2006, an increase of 91,600, as many workers from other parts of Canada headed west to earn a living.
Even so, Calgary's rate of growth of 17.0% was still slower than the 22.3% pace it experienced from 1996 to 2001.
In 2006, nearly 72.5% of Calgary's working-age population was employed, up from 71.5% in 2001, the highest of all census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Its unemployment rate fell from 4.9% to 4.0%, the lowest of all metropolitan areas.
Two industries accounted for about 30% of the 91,600 new jobs in Calgary: construction and oil and gas extraction. Employment in construction increased by 13,300 from 2001 to 2006, or an average increase of 6.1% annually. About 14,300 workers joined the mining and oil and gas extraction industry, an average annual growth of 8.9%.
On the downside, communications equipment manufacturing in Calgary saw a loss of about 1,300 workers, or an average annual decline of 12.4%.
