Our compadres at Stats Canada put out their Labour Survey for September 2011 last Friday and the numbers were better than expected (which is always good to hear, given the gloomy info we keep hearing every day from the media).
Following two months of little change, employment rose by 61,000 in September, all in full time. This increase pushed the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage points to 7.1%, the lowest rate since December 2008.
Pretty good news, don’t you think? Given the media pundits had been saying we would be lucky to be “holding steady” at the current rate, 61,000 new jobs is pretty darn good, way to go Canadian Economy!
Other good news to note (for folks in Alberta and Ontario at least):
In the 12 months to September, employment has grown by 1.7% (+294,000), primarily in Ontario and Alberta. Over this period, full-time employment rose by 2.5% (+344,000), part-time work declined 1.5% (-50,000) and total actual hours worked increased 2.0%.
More hours worked (and paid for) is a very good thing for the economy, more folding money in folks’ pockets is good!
The unemployment curve has a nice dropping part to it for now as well, with the rate at 7.1% we are looking better for now too. What the ramifications of all the tom foolery and silliness down south and in Europe I have no idea what that may do for things, however, for now, we are looking much better.
The Big Table
Stats Canada also publishes a host of tables cutting their data up by various groupings and I strongly suggest you go and have a look at all of them, they are very enlightening.
Table 1 Labour force characteristics by age and sex – Seasonnally adjusted
| August 2011 | September 2011 | Aug to Sept 2011 | Sept 2010 to Sept 2011 | Aug to Sept 2011 | Sept 2010 to Sept 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousands (except rates) | change in thousands (except rates) | % change | ||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 28,032.7 | 28,057.1 | 24.4 | 319.7 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Labour force | 18,706.6 | 18,733.7 | 27.1 | 148.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| Employment | 17,338.7 | 17,399.6 | 60.9 | 294.3 | 0.4 | 1.7 |
| Full-time | 14,042.3 | 14,106.1 | 63.8 | 344.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Part-time | 3,296.4 | 3,293.5 | -2.9 | -49.7 | -0.1 | -1.5 |
| Unemployment | 1,367.9 | 1,334.2 | -33.7 | -146.0 | -2.5 | -9.9 |
| Participation rate | 66.7 | 66.8 | 0.1 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.3 | 7.1 | -0.2 | -0.9 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 61.9 | 62.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 19.0 | 18.9 | -0.1 | -0.6 | … | Â … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | ||||||
| Population | 4,457.6 | 4,457.2 | -0.4 | -3.9 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Labour force | 2,882.3 | 2,901.6 | 19.3 | 53.7 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Employment | 2,478.8 | 2,494.1 | 15.3 | 67.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 |
| Full-time | 1,295.2 | 1,292.2 | -3.0 | 28.3 | -0.2 | 2.2 |
| Part-time | 1,183.5 | 1,201.9 | 18.4 | 39.2 | 1.6 | 3.4 |
| Unemployment | 403.6 | 407.5 | 3.9 | -13.8 | 1.0 | -3.3 |
| Participation rate | 64.7 | 65.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0.0 | -0.8 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 55.6 | 56.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 47.7 | 48.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | … | Â … |
| Men, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,534.7 | 11,546.9 | 12.2 | 161.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Labour force | 8,386.1 | 8,391.5 | 5.4 | 28.9 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Employment | 7,856.2 | 7,879.5 | 23.3 | 105.9 | 0.3 | 1.4 |
| Full-time | 7,253.6 | 7,282.3 | 28.7 | 133.0 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Part-time | 602.6 | 597.2 | -5.4 | -27.1 | -0.9 | -4.3 |
| Unemployment | 529.9 | 512.0 | -17.9 | -77.0 | -3.4 | -13.1 |
| Participation rate | 72.7 | 72.7 | 0.0 | -0.8 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.3 | 6.1 | -0.2 | -0.9 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.1 | 68.2 | 0.1 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 7.7 | 7.6 | -0.1 | -0.4 | … | Â … |
| Women, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 12,040.4 | 12,052.9 | 12.5 | 162.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Labour force | 7,438.1 | 7,440.6 | 2.5 | 65.6 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| Employment | 7,003.7 | 7,025.9 | 22.2 | 120.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Full-time | 5,493.5 | 5,531.5 | 38.0 | 182.6 | 0.7 | 3.4 |
| Part-time | 1,510.2 | 1,494.4 | -15.8 | -61.8 | -1.0 | -4.0 |
| Unemployment | 434.3 | 414.7 | -19.6 | -55.2 | -4.5 | -11.7 |
| Participation rate | 61.8 | 61.7 | -0.1 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 5.8 | 5.6 | -0.2 | -0.8 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.2 | 58.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 21.6 | 21.3 | -0.3 | -1.2 | … | Â … |
