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Central Alberta's goods and services industry outshone the rest of the province during the last half-decade, according to labour force statistics. While Alberta's overall goods and services labour force remained relatively static from 2002 to 2006, the number of people who chose to work in those sectors in Central Alberta grew substantially during that period. The goods producing sector saw an 11% increase in its labour force while the services sector enjoyed 9% growth.
Competition for labour during the past five years also resulted in significant increases in workforce numbers for: retail trade; construction; health care and social assistance; and forestry, fishing, mining, and oil & gas. Meanwhile, the agriculture and manufacturing sectors experienced a slight reduction in labour force size.
The greatest workforce gains occurred in: business, building & other support services (65.6%), public administration (56.8%), and forestry, fishing, mining, and oil & gas (28.7%). A tight labour market was felt by the following industries: information, culture and recreation; transportation & warehousing; and accommodation & food services. Workforce numbers in these sectors shrunk by 26.8%, 12.2% and 4.9% respectively. But despite the labour challenge, all three of these industry groups experienced growth in 2006.
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Labour Force by Industry Division (in thousands)
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Central Region
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2002
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2003
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2004
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2005
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2006
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All Industries
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136.5
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141.3
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130.4
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138.8
|
149.8
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Goods-producing sector
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47.6
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50.7
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48.5
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51.1
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52.7
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Agriculture
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14.5
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14.4
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12.5
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11.5
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13.9
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Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas
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9.4
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11.8
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13.4
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13.3
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12.1
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Utilities
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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Construction
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12.4
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13.6
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13.3
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15.2
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15.2
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Manufacturing
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11.1
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10.3
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8.6
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10.7
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10.6
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Services-producing sector
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88.9
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90.5
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81.9
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87.8
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97.0
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Wholesale trade
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4.7
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3.7
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3.9
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3.7
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4.9
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Retail trade
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14.9
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16.4
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15.4
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15.2
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16
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Transportation and warehousing
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7.4
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6.8
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6
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6.1
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6.5
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Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing
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5.4
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5.6
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5.4
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5.1
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6.8
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Professional, scientific and technical services
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5.9
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5.6
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4.4
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5.8
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6.2
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Business, building and other support services
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3.2
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3.8
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3.7
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5.7
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5.3
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Educational services
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8.3
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8.6
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7.5
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8.6
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8.7
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Health care and social assistance
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12.8
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13.8
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13.8
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17
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14.9
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Information, culture and recreation
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5.6
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4.4
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3.1
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3.9
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4.1
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Accommodation and food services
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10.2
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10.4
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9.2
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6.8
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9.7
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Other services
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6.9
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6
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6.2
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6.5
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8.1
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Public administration
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3.7
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5.4
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3.3
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3.3
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5.8
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Source:Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada, V0806_01 (NB: 0.0 = data < 1500)
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