What do you mean by a 'labour market'?

For some, a labour market might be considered a fairly technical term, but I am using a straight forward definition. For me the labour market is the people behind the economy. It's the jobs that are created, the migrants who move looking for a better life, the decisions that are made and everything else behind the economic numbers that everyone seems to take so much stock in. The labour market is much more than the rise and fall of stocks on what ever street you are following. It's about people. And that's why I am so interested in it.

Alberta's labour market has always been an active place. This past decade has seen incredible growth and that saw a very sudden decline last October. August 2008 Alberta saw an unemployment rate of 3.5%. In August 2009 it was 7.4% (source). There are so many stories behind those numbers. Everyone has questions. Will this high unemployment stick? Why were so many jobs lost so suddenly? How does something in New York affect what happened in Fort McMurray? Are we going to see more health care cuts? All these questions are related to the labour market.

Now, I have no crystal ball. I only have an interest in this area. I have some close connections to the 'front lines' and an interest in writing about Alberta. I am no academic but I am no dummy either. I am able to listen and learn, if someone has something interesting to say.

And so the discourse begins...

Alberta's Labour Market

I read the blog of Penelope Trunk quite regularly. While she can be quite controversial, she is a very successful blogger and I think she has a lot to say about how to write a successful blog. In her most recent blog she writes about how important it is for a blog to have a topic - a focal point. Now my blog hasn't had this focus and I think that is part of the problem as to why I'm not updating it as much as I should. Penelope is right, you need to focus. And it's really not hard to find that topic. It took me a trip to the toilet to figure out what my blog topic should be...

I did a quick search on Google blogs and found that no one is writing about Alberta's labour market. While the topic may sound quite boring at first, it is a favorite topic of interest of mine. Alberta of course is my home and I am interested in everything about this beautiful province. The labour market has so many different facets to it and it is something I always have a comment about. So really, this is something that I will find it easy to write about. I'm still seeking truth, but I'm a little more specific now - I'm searching for it in Alberta's labour market.

Of course this won't stop me from writing about other things, but the blog needs a focus, a theme. I'm looking forward to writing more about this. This appears to be the fall/winter of writing - I'm starting to engage in a few different writing projects and I hope this will further help to develop my skills as a writer.

So, I hope this new direction will get me to write more - Friday is the release of the newest employment numbers. I'm really not sure where we went in September. And it's bad luck to voice one's predictions. I find that if I write them in a secret place they come true. If I tell everyone my prediction, I'm wrong.