Canadians have good reason to be pleased with the latest labour market report (for June) released by Statistics Canada today. The month-to-month decline in employment was negligible, -7,000. This compares with the June job-loss figure in the United States of -467,000. The recession in U.S. jobs has now lasted for 18 months and yielded a total net drop in employment of 6.5 million. Canada’s job market has really only been in a decline since last fall and the net effect has been -370,000 jobs. Furthermore, the pace of job losses in this country has slowed considerably from the first quarter to the second quarter.

A Predictable Mix of Trends

In broad strokes, the problems in Canada’s jobs market started in October of last year. That was just after the collapse in stock market prices, which alerted most adults to the fact that their pension and mutual fund holdings were a good deal less valuable than previously. Since then, the contraction in total jobs in the country has been nearly 400,000, but it has been an interesting mix of trends. Furthermore, the pattern of change in the overall job market has conformed to what one might expect in a deep recession.(story continued below)

Canada : Month-to-Month Total Job Creation

Over the past 20 years, the Canadian economy has generated, on average, 17,000 new jobs per month or 200,000 new jobs per year.

Data Source: Household Survey, Statistics Canada.
Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Youth has suffered the most. The unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 to 24 is now 15.9%, the highest level in 11 years. The year-over-year change in youth employment is -6.4%. However, workers aged 55 and older have actually increased their presence on job rosters (+78,000), the only age group to do so since last fall. Concerns about their savings, with their senior years approaching, have been sending more aging adults back to work. Older women have particularly found employment, much of it part-time.

On that subject, part-time employment is up by 84,000 jobs since October 2008. However, this does not come close to compensating for the 454,000 jobs lost in full-time endeavours. Again, this is a natural consequence of the recession, since part-time employment involves less of a commitment by companies uncertain and less confident about what the future holds. Of the net 370,000 jobs lost during these difficult times, 60% of them have been in manufacturing and 30% of them have been in construction.

Regional Performances

On a month-to-month basis, no region in the country experienced a dramatic decline in employment in June. However, year-over-year, it has been Ontario and British Columbia that have borne the brunt of the job losses. Those two provinces have accounted for 85% of the decline in total employment in Canada since a year ago. Ontario’s current unemployment rate of 9.6% is the highest it has been in 15 years.

Saskatchewan is the only province with a large gain in year-over-year employment and it now sits with the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at 4.6%. Thank the province’s varied resource base. Manitoba has the next lowest jobless rate at 5.2%.

Canada vs U.S. Monthly Unemployment Rate (Percent)
(Seasonally Adjusted Data)

Data source: Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Total Employment – Canada vs U.S.

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data sources (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Service Sector Employment – Canada vs U.S.

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data sources (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Construction Employment – Canada vs U.S.

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data sources (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Manufacturing Employment – Canada vs U.S.

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data sources (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Full-time versus Part-time Employment – Canada vs U.S.

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data sources (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)/Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

Change in Private Sector versus Public Sector Employment in Canada

*Year over Year" is the monthly figure versus the same month of the previous year.

Data source (seasonally adjusted): Statistics Canada.
Chart: Reed Construction Data - CanaData.

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