Canada’s Job Growth Doubles the Long-term Average in 2007
Alex Carrick
The Canadian economy has been growing robustly for the past six years. Over that time, there has been an increase in total employment of 2.1 million new jobs. In the latest year (i.e., through November 2007), the jobs increase is approaching 400,000, which is double the long-term annual average. Furthermore, the increase in employment in 2007 will exceed the gain in 2006 by almost 100,000.
Both construction and the service sector have recorded net increases in employment in 2007 versus 2006. Most recently, B.C. has been particularly strong in construction job growth and Québec has been a major provider of service sector jobs.
The One Problem Area has been Manufacturing
The one problem area has been manufacturing. The number of manufacturing jobs in the country has dropped by 300,000 over the past five years. Job losses in 2007 are even greater than in 2006, due partly to the climb in value of the Canadian dollar. The weak U.S. housing sector has also played a role. The most significant manufacturing job losses have come in wood products, furniture and auto and parts production.
Nor is there likely to be much relief on the dollar front in the near term. The Canadian dollar has been showing considerable correlation with oil prices. The upward movement in the price of oil to the $100 U.S. per barrel range is providing support for a Canadian dollar at least at par with its U.S. counterpart.
