Thousands of Canadians pack up their babies' diapers and move to Alberta each year in the hope of finding employment. General perception is that Alberta is the pinnacle of Canada's job market, but you should never risk your whole future on such a vague hope. Before you move to Calgary (or any other city) do some research into its employment statistics and find out what your chances of landing a job are and indeed whether the city you have in mind has much in the way of opportunity for someone with your skills. The follow information will help you with your research into Calgary.

While Calgary was a beacon of employment hope for Canada in the early 2000s, with the arrival of the financial crisis and recession in 2008 prospects took a sharp dive. The unemployment rate in Calgary was only 4.1% in 2006 but in the current year, 2010, the unemployment rate is more than double: hovering around 8.3%. If you look at mortgages, commercial spending, and old statistics, you'll notice that this is actually an improvement over last year.

Youth, by contrast, have a much higher jobless rate than older people: just over 15%. Calgary is no longer the ideal destination for workers just out of high school or training college, especially for youth who have only just completed an English course in Canada. Though the unemployment rate has been falling, this does not mean there's room in the economy for more workers, because the gains have mostly been in part time work rather than full time work.

Calgary's economy is dominated by oil and gas, which brings on over $50 billion each year, and by other manufacturing and service related companies, like duplex strainers factories, chemical plants, and technology firms. However, these top producing sectors aren't always the most likely places to find a job, especially if (like the oil industry) they're finding their hold on the market share shrinking. Up and coming industries may be a better bet - these include health care, service, and technology.

So which skill sets will have the easiest time getting jobs? Well, as you learned when you worked for the OAA, competition is the fiercest for positions that pay the best. So all those top level health care, education, and oil and gas jobs are a tough sell. The easiest jobs to get are menial service jobs cleaning, serving, and selling, though even these don't offer the same sorts of high wages and bonuses as they did a few years ago.