The 22-year-old forward brought coach Pep Guardiola and the Nou Camp faithful to their feet when he collected Maxwell's pass just after the half hour and smashed a shot on the turn into the top right corner.
Barca have 18 points from six matches, matching their best start to a league campaign, and are three ahead of arch rivals Real Madrid who will be without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo at third-placed Sevilla on Sunday.
The Portugal forward sprained his right ankle in Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League win over Olympique Marseille.
Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves did well to deflect a Xavi volley on to the post in the 18th minute after good work from Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on his 28th birthday and Pedro's follow-up bounced off the same upright.
"They had three clear chances and we had none so the result was fair," Almeria coach Hugo Sanchez told a news conference.
Guardiola, who played against Sanchez when the Mexican was at Rayo Vallecano in the early 1990s, said Almeria's close marking of midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta had made things hard for Barca.
"These kinds of matches leave you with a very positive feeling," he said. "They show you that you always have to work hard and for that reason I congratulate the team."
Elsewhere on Saturday, Jurado's precise strike from the edge of the area in the second minute and a rare goal from Antonio Lopez gave Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win over visiting Real Zaragoza - the first victory this season for Abel Resino's side.
Atletico's 18-year-old goalkeeper David De Gea made a superb save to keep out Marko Babic's penalty on his league debut after he had brought down Jorge Lopez in the 19th minute but was later beaten from the spot by Ewerthon.
"It was a dream for me to play in the Calderon and I saved the penalty as well," De Gea said in a television interview.
