8,000 New Jobs in May
According to the latest release on labour markets by Statistics Canada, 8,000 new jobs were created nationwide in May 2008. The mathematics of this increase were fairly simple. Full-time jobs declined by 32,000 in the month, while part-time jobs increased by 40,000. There were other minor offsetting regional changes, but all of the part-time jobs increase can be explained by Ontario (+27,800) and Alberta (+12,500). A concern, however, is that part-time jobs are not generally as high-paying or stable as full-time jobs.

The year-to-date increase in employment in Canada now stands at 131,000. This is a quite respectable showing, but the month-to-month pattern appears to be stepping down (see accompanying graph). Increases were much higher at the start of the year.  

Participation Rate of Adult Women at Record High
One standout feature of the labour force in the latest month was that the participation rate of adult women (aged 25+) was at an all-time high (62.4%). The participation rate is the number of people in the labour force in a particular age-sex grouping divided by the total population for that same demographic. Just for comparison purposes, the current participation rate for adult men is 74.0%. The overall participation rate for all ages and sexes in Canada was also at a record high of 68.0% in May.

344,000 Manufacturing Jobs Lost since 2002
Some other highlights from the May report include the following. Total Canadian job losses in manufacturing have amounted to 344,000 since November 2002. Ontario has accounted for 200,000 or 58% of that total and Québec for 124,000 or 36%. In the latest month, however, year-over-year employment in manufacturing “improved” to -3.3% from nearly -6.0% the month before.

Another way of looking at the employment statistics is to consider that more than half of the new jobs so far this year (+131,000) have been in construction (+74,000). In fact, the employment gain in construction has exceeded the gain in the services sector (+67,000).

Regional Labour Markets
Alberta is still the strongest provincial labour market. It has the lowest unemployment rate (3.6%) and the highest rate of job growth (+3.3%). The other western provinces continue to have unemployment rates well below those in eastern Canada. As for job growth, however, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island (both + 2.9%) are following close on the heels of Alberta. British Columbia (+2.5%) and Ontario (+2.2%) are also above the national rate (+2.0%) of job growth.

In the individual month of May, Québec had the most notable employment growth among the provinces. Lately, employment gains in transportation equipment in Québec have made up for job losses in textiles and clothing. The Canadian dollar has been moving in tandem with the U.S. dollar since last September and both have lost some ground versus the Euro. This has helped in making sales of airplanes and subway cars in Europe.

Average Hourly Wage Increase now a Quite High +4.8%

Finally, the year-over-year increase in average hourly wages in Canada has exceeded +4.0% since September of last year. In May, wages at +4.8% were a substantial quickening from April’s level of +4.3%. The latest increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was only +1.7%.