An international job search engine has confirmed what most Red Deer employers already knew: this is a great place for job-seekers.
Adzuna.ca has compiled a list that compares job listings to unemployment levels in cities across Canada. Red Deer is ranked second out of 50 communities, with 1.77 job-seekers for every workplace vacancy.
Grande Prairie topped the list, with a ratio of 1.38. Edmonton was third (2.15), followed by Calgary (2.31) and Lethbridge (2.91).
At the other end of the spectrum was Cape Breton, N.S., where there were 32.30 job-seekers for every job. Saguenay, Que., and Courtenay, B.C., were the next worst cities to be looking for work, with ratios of 31.1 and 27.86 respectively.
Adzuna.ca also calculated the average salary for posted jobs in each city. Red Deer’s was the sixth highest among the seven Alberta cities included in the study, at $56,040. Calgary led the way at $62,081, with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo second at $57,089, Medicine Hat third at $56,728, Edmonton fourth at 56,494, and Grande Prairie fifth at $56,265.
The Adzuna.ca study noted that average posted salaries in Red Deer had dropped seven per cent during the preceding six months, the greatest decline among the Canadian cities included. Nationally, overall average salaries improved by two per cent during this period.
Gabriel Puliatti, Adzuna.ca’s Canadian manager, pointed out that the slide in Red Deer’s average salaries probably had more to do with short-term fluctuations than with long-term trends.
“Since salaries are the average salary for the jobs posted that month, they tend to reflect the type of hiring being done at the time, which tends to be seasonal.”
He added that the ratio of unemployment claimants to jobs — where Red Deer shines — is a “fairer” indication of the local job market than average salaries.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in the Red Deer area in January was 2.8 per cent, the lowest of Alberta’s eight regions. In December, the local jobless rate was 2.7 per cent.
The Adzuna.ca study was based on 111,743 job vacancies in the company’s search index, and the number of employment insurance recipients as of November 2013. Additional information about the study can be found online by going to www.adzuna.ca/blog and selecting the post, “Where are all the jobs?”
Based on the United Kingdom, Adzuna.ca operates websites in 11 countries.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com