So Friday gave us a brighter picture for the Canadian Economy, at least in terms of Statistics. I still know of plenty of younger folks who are having problems finding real full time jobs (they have more than 1 part time jobs to “keep the wolves from the door”).
To quote our amigos at Stats Canada:
Employment rose by 22,000 in May, bringing gains over the previous 12 months to 273,000 (+1.6%). The employment increase in May, combined with a decline in the number of people looking for work, pushed the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%.
…
Full-time employment increased by 33,000 in May. Over the past 12 months, full-time employment rose by 224,000 (+1.6%) while part time was up 50,000 (+1.5%).Employment was up mainly among men aged 25 to 54, while it changed little among the other demographic groups.
The unemployment rate for students aged 20 to 24, at 15.0%, was lower in May compared with May 2010.
Full time jobs are increasing, but the grizzly number in that is the unemployment numbers for students between 20 and 24 being 15.0%, that depresses me. The scary thing is that men in the age group 25-54 had the largest growth in the survey, so Men are finding jobs? Wonder what might be causing that one?
An optimistic graphic for you would be:
The unemployment graphic is an optimistic look as well:
As can be seen these numbers, while better, are not as good as they were in 2008.
What was it employment like 1 year ago at this time? Starting to turn around, but not nearly as rosy (or rosier) than it is today.
The Big Table
As my regular readers know, I enjoy putting up the Big Table to show the real numbers published, and here it is:
Labour force characteristics by age and sex
| April 2011 | May 2011 | April to May 2011 |
May 2010 to May 2011 |
April to May 2011 |
May 2010 to May 2011 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | ||||||
| thousands (except rates) | change in thousands (except rates) | % change | ||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 27,914.8 | 27,949.0 | 34.2 | 340.9 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Labour force | 18,710.5 | 18,682.7 | -27.8 | 144.7 | -0.1 | 0.8 |
| Employment | 17,286.4 | 17,308.7 | 22.3 | 273.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Full-time | 13,950.9 | 13,983.8 | 32.9 | 223.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| Part-time | 3,335.5 | 3,324.9 | -10.6 | 49.6 | -0.3 | 1.5 |
| Unemployment | 1,424.1 | 1,374.1 | -50.0 | -128.6 | -3.5 | -8.6 |
| Participation rate | 67.0 | 66.8 | -0.2 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.6 | 7.4 | -0.2 | -0.7 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 61.9 | 61.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 19.3 | 19.2 | -0.1 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | ||||||
| Population | 4,458.4 | 4,458.1 | -0.3 | -1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Labour force | 2,878.2 | 2,876.2 | -2.0 | -28.8 | -0.1 | -1.0 |
| Employment | 2,467.3 | 2,477.6 | 10.3 | 11.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Full-time | 1,289.9 | 1,295.7 | 5.8 | 12.7 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Part-time | 1,177.4 | 1,182.0 | 4.6 | -1.2 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| Unemployment | 411.0 | 398.6 | -12.4 | -40.1 | -3.0 | -9.1 |
| Participation rate | 64.6 | 64.5 | -0.1 | -0.6 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.3 | 13.9 | -0.4 | -1.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 55.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 47.7 | 47.7 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Men, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,475.4 | 11,492.6 | 17.2 | 170.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 8,383.0 | 8,385.3 | 2.3 | 90.6 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Employment | 7,832.6 | 7,856.8 | 24.2 | 184.9 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Full-time | 7,201.0 | 7,232.7 | 31.7 | 154.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| Part-time | 631.6 | 624.1 | -7.5 | 30.9 | -1.2 | 5.2 |
| Unemployment | 550.4 | 528.5 | -21.9 | -94.4 | -4.0 | -15.2 |
| Participation rate | 73.1 | 73.0 | -0.1 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.6 | 6.3 | -0.3 | -1.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.3 | 68.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 8.1 | 7.9 | -0.2 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Women, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,980.9 | 11,998.2 | 17.3 | 172.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 7,449.3 | 7,421.2 | -28.1 | 82.9 | -0.4 | 1.1 |
| Employment | 6,986.6 | 6,974.2 | -12.4 | 77.0 | -0.2 | 1.1 |
| Full-time | 5,460.0 | 5,455.4 | -4.6 | 57.1 | -0.1 | 1.1 |
| Part-time | 1,526.6 | 1,518.8 | -7.8 | 19.9 | -0.5 | 1.3 |
| Unemployment | 462.7 | 447.0 | -15.7 | 5.9 | -3.4 | 1.3 |
| Participation rate | 62.2 | 61.9 | -0.3 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.2 | 6.0 | -0.2 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.3 | 58.1 | -0.2 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 21.9 | 21.8 | -0.1 | 0.1 | … | … |
Thank god your not American
Let’s hope the worst is behind us with employment rates decreasing. I am curious to know why men in the 25-54 age range are finding the jobs, however.
Those really seem to be some promising numbers. One would imagine with an actively decreasing employment rate, our economy and stock market should be firing on all cylinders going forward now.