Career Advice » Career Advice Articles » Archives » Labour Force Survey Archives » Labour Force Survey - November 2007
Highlights
- BC's economy created 25,800 new jobs last month, more than sufficient to absorb the additional 22,400 entrants to the labour force. The result: BC's participation rate is now 66.7% - the highest rate since March 1995; the "employment rate" hit an all-time high of 63.9% (639 jobs per 1,000 population); and the unemployment fell to 4.2%.
- Over the past year, there was a drop in part-time jobs of 7,800 and an increase in full-time jobs of 95,800, netting to an overall increase in employment of 88,000 or 4.0% over the year.
- Almost one-half of the new jobs over the past month were in Construction, bringing employment to a record 207,000 in the industry. Employment in the exchange-rate sensitive Trade and Manufacturing sectors was down slightly over the past month, but well above last year's job levels.
Older Workers
BC's workforce is aging, so governments and employers are paying increased attention to older workers. Let's have a look at a few labour market characteristics of this age group.
BC's improved labour market situation has had a positive effect on all age groups, including older workers. As Graph 1 shows, the unemployment rate for those aged 55 and over is below the average for all workers, and has been steadily declining since 2004.
On the other hand, when older workers lose their jobs, they remain unemployed for a longer period than other workers. Although the situation has improved since 2004, the average unemployed person in the 55+ age groups has been unemployed for 20 weeks.
Finally, older workers have lower participation in the labour force. But as Graph 3 shows, participation rates are significantly higher now than they were ten years ago for workers aged 55 and over.
Summary of Labour Force Survey Results
Legend:
MC(#) = Absolute Monthly Change
MC(%) = Percentage Monthly Change
YC(#) = Absolute Yearly Change
YC(%) = Percentage Yearly Change
"- -" = indicates number suppressed due to high sample variance
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population 15+ (000) | 3,597.6 | 3,591.4 | 3,533.7 | 6.2 | 0.2 | 63.9 | 1.8 |
| Labour Force (000) | 2,398.6 | 2,376.2 | 2,326.0 | 22.4 | 0.9 | 72.6 | 3.1 |
| Employed (000) | 2,298.4 | 2,272.6 | 2,210.4 | 25.8 | 1.1 | 88.0 | 4.0 |
| Emp-Full-Time (000) | 1,849.5 | 1,816.0 | 1,753.7 | 33.5 | 1.8 | 95.8 | 5.5 |
| Emp-Part-Time (000) | 448.9 | 456.6 | 456.7 | -7.7 | -1.7 | -7.8 | -1.7 |
| Unemployed (000) | 100.2 | 103.6 | 115.6 | -3.4 | -3.3 | -15.4 | -13.3 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.0 | -0.2 | -0.8 | ||
| Participation Rate (%) | 66.7 | 66.2 | 65.8 | 0.5 | 0.9 | ||
| Employment Rate (%) | 63.9 | 63.3 | 62.6 | 0.6 | 1.3 |
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Industry (000) | 2,298.4 | 2,272.6 | 2,210.4 | 25.8 | 1.1 | 88.0 | 4.0 |
| Goods-Producing | 509.2 | 499.6 | 479.2 | 9.6 | 1.9 | 30.0 | 6.3 |
| Agriculture | 39.9 | 40.7 | 35.6 | -0.8 | -2.0 | 4.3 | 12.1 |
| Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Oil & Gas | 46.8 | 46.8 | 52.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -5.7 | -10.9 |
| Utilities | 12.5 | 12.7 | 9.8 | -0.2 | -1.6 | 2.7 | 27.6 |
| Construction | 207.0 | 194.6 | 182.7 | 12.4 | 6.4 | 24.3 | 13.3 |
| Manufacturing | 203.0 | 204.7 | 198.6 | -1.7 | -0.8 | 4.4 | 2.2 |
| Service-Producing | 1,789.2 | 1,772.9 | 1,731.2 | 16.3 | 0.9 | 58.0 | 3.4 |
| Trade | 370.5 | 373.6 | 345.3 | -3.1 | -0.8 | 25.2 | 7.3 |
| Transport & Warehousing | 128.2 | 122.3 | 114.8 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 13.4 | 11.7 |
| Fin, Ins, Real Estate, Leasing | 142.7 | 142.6 | 148.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -6.1 | -4.1 |
| Prof, Sci, Tech Services | 163.2 | 161.8 | 164.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | -1.4 | -0.9 |
| Mngmt, Admin, Other Support | 103.8 | 100.1 | 106.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | -3.0 | -2.8 |
| Education Services | 159.6 | 157.9 | 159.7 | 1.7 | 1.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 |
| Health/Social Ass't | 241.9 | 243.7 | 229.1 | -1.8 | -0.7 | 12.8 | 5.6 |
| Info, Culture & Rec | 120.6 | 112.2 | 106.1 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 14.5 | 13.7 |
| Accom & food serv | 172.0 | 171.6 | 172.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | -0.9 | -0.5 |
| Other Services | 88.8 | 90.3 | 88.1 | -1.5 | -1.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Public Admin | 97.8 | 96.6 | 94.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,298.4 | 2,272.6 | 2,210.4 | 25.8 | 1.1 | 88.0 | 4.0 |
| Employee (000) | 1,875.4 | 1,854.4 | 1,789.5 | 21.0 | 1.1 | 85.9 | 4.8 |
| Public | 401.7 | 408.6 | 400.7 | -6.9 | -1.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| Private | 1,473.7 | 1,445.8 | 1,388.8 | 27.9 | 1.9 | 84.9 | 6.1 |
| Self-Employed (000) | 423.0 | 418.2 | 420.9 | 4.8 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 0.5 |
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Both - 15+ Yrs | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.0 | -0.2 | -0.8 |
| Both - 15-24 Yrs | 8.1 | 7.5 | 9.4 | 0.6 | -1.3 |
| Both - 25+ Yrs | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.1 | -0.4 | -0.7 |
| Men - 15+ Yrs | 3.9 | 4.3 | 5.0 | -0.4 | -1.1 |
| Men - 15-24 Yrs | 6.8 | 7.9 | 11.4 | -1.1 | -4.6 |
| Men - 25+ Yrs | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.9 | -0.3 | -0.6 |
| Women - 15+ Yrs | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 0.1 | -0.4 |
| Women - 15-24 Yrs | 9.6 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
| Women - 25+ Yrs | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.4 | -0.5 | -1.0 |
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 13.2 | 13.5 | 13.6 | -0.3 | -0.4 |
| Prince Edward Island | 11.2 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
| Nova Scotia | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| New Brunswick | 7.2 | 7.6 | 8.5 | -0.4 | -1.3 |
| Quebec | 7.0 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 0.1 | -0.9 |
| Ontario | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Manitoba | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.9 | -0.3 | 0.1 |
| Alberta | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| British Columbia | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.0 | -0.2 | -0.8 |
| Abbotsford | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.0 | -0.6 | 0.1 |
| Vancouver | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Victoria | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.8 | -0.4 | -1.0 |
| November 2007 | October 2007 | November 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 5.4 | 5.7 | 5.8 | -0.3 | -0.4 |
| British Columbia | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.4 | -0.3 | -0.5 |
| 910 Vancouver Island | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.7 | -0.5 | -1.3 |
| 920 Lower Mainland - SW | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.1 | -0.3 | -0.2 |
| 930 Thompson Okanagan | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| 940 Kootenay | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.6 | -0.1 | -0.9 |
| 950 Cariboo | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.5 | -0.5 | -1.3 |
| 960/970 N. Coast/Nechako | 8.1 | 7.3 | 6.2 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| 980 Northeast | - - | - - | 4.9 | - - | - - |
| Vancouver CMA | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | -0.3 | -0.1 |
| Victoria CMA | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.9 | -0.9 | -1.1 |
| Abbotsford (Matsqui) | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.7 | -0.8 | 0.0 |
from: http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/bc-yk/59/jwtc/lmi/lfs1107.shtml