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B.C. Employment Stable
Canada experienced its largest month to month drop in employment in 17 years in July, losing 55,000 jobs (see NATIONAL TRENDS). The US also lost 51,000 jobs in July. In BC however the job market was stable, with a tiny gain of 3,000 jobs resulting from a gain of nearly 19,000 full-time jobs and a decline of 16,000 part-time jobs. In many cases, these may be the same jobs but with more hours of work.
In July there employment increases in construction and financial services, and information and cultural services, and some losses in trade, transportation and professional services. There were gains in self-employment, but not in paid jobs.
Compared to last July, employment in BC has risen by 65,000 jobs, or 2.9%, well above the national average gain of 1.3%. Employment growth is still somewhat faster in the goods producing industries than in the service producing sectors, an unusual situation in a modern economy and reflective of the resource/construction boom being experienced in the Western provinces. Over the past year there have been major increases in employment in construction, which has added 34,000 jobs, and education which is up by 23,000. There have been some losses of jobs in manufacturing, which is down by 14,000 and is part of a national trend due to the exchange rate, and also special problems in forestry related industries, and in trade, which is down by 26,000 jobs. The reasons for a big drop in wholesale and retail trade are not clear, but this industry, while on general upward trend over time, experienced a sharp drop in July of 2006, then expanded till August of 2007, and has been shrinking since last summer.
| NATIONAL TRENDS Following gains at the beginning of 2008, and little change from April to June, employment dropped by 55,000 in July. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, as many people, particularly youth, left the labour force. While employment grew by 1.3% over the last 12 months (+227,000), the pace of growth has slowed in recent months. Most of the employment losses in July were in part time, down 48,000. Employment decreases in July occurred in manufacturing; business, building and other support services; and educational services. The only significant gains were in accommodation and food services. July's employment losses occurred in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island Source: Statistics Canada Daily, August 8th, 2008 |
Prime Age Employment Rates
Canadian men and women both find their years of peak participation in the labour force between their mid-Twenties and mid-Fifties. Adding up across the usual five year age groups, this can be represented by those aged 25 to 54 years, often called the "prime-age" work force. The employment rate, that is the employed as a percentage of the population, shows the most basic participation trends without the added issue of the unemployed participant.
Over the last three decades, the employment rates of men and women have become much more similar. Beginning with the recession of the early 1980s, the employment rates for men fell, and have never fully recovered. Women's rates have increased regardless of the business cycle, though more slowly since about 1990. The result is that the gap between men and women has shrunk from forty percentage points in 1976 to 9 points nationally and 11 points in BC. As the second chart shows, the resource and construction boom in the West has tended to drive up male employment rates compared to Central and Eastern provinces, resulting in a larger gender gap in employment rates.
Produced by Labour Market Analysis Unit, BC/Yukon Region
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source: http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/bc-yk/59/jwtc/lmi/lfs0708.shtml#3a