Our friends over at Stats Canada published their Labour Force Survey for January 2013 on Friday and the news was not as good as it has been in the past few months, with 22,000 jobs less in the Canadian Economy. Unemployment did not increase though, because there were less folks looking for jobs (again, not a good piece of news either).
This could be due to a post-Christmas sag in jobs, but with Best Buy starting to shut down many of its big-box electronics stores, this could be a precursor to a larger retail job drop. With the growing generation of underemployed youngsters, a retail shrinkage could hurt a great deal.
Public sector employment fell by 27,000 in January, while self-employment was up slightly and the number of private sector employees was little changed. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of private sector employees increased by 1.9% or 210,000, while the number of public sector employees and self-employed was little changed.
Good to hear the private sector is creating more jobs, the Canadian economy relies heavily on those public servants out there, and I suspect there is going to be a great deal more cutting in the Public Sector.
The unemployment graph, again, can be deceptive, given you have fewer folks looking for jobs.
The Big Table
Here is one of the 3 Big Tables that Stats Canada supplies that breaks the information down so you can better comprehend how you fit in these numbers:
Labour force characteristics by age and sex Seasonally adjusted
| December 2012 | January 2013 | December 2012 to January 2013 | January 2012 to January 2013 | December 2012 to January 2013 | January 2012 to January 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousands (except rates) | change in thousands (except rates) | % change | ||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 28,468.6 | 28,501.2 | 32.6 | 344.8 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Labour force | 19,026.0 | 18,968.5 | -57.5 | 193.5 | -0.3 | 1.0 |
| Employment | 17,667.6 | 17,645.7 | -21.9 | 286.4 | -0.1 | 1.6 |
| Full-time | 14,360.0 | 14,339.4 | -20.6 | 285.2 | -0.1 | 2.0 |
| Part-time | 3,307.6 | 3,306.2 | -1.4 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Unemployment | 1,358.4 | 1,322.8 | -35.6 | -92.9 | -2.6 | -6.6 |
| Participation rate | 66.8 | 66.6 | -0.2 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.1 | 7.0 | -0.1 | -0.5 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 62.1 | 61.9 | -0.2 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 18.7 | 18.7 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | ||||||
| Population | 4,456.1 | 4,454.7 | -1.4 | -2.3 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Labour force | 2,836.0 | 2,831.5 | -4.5 | -17.0 | -0.2 | -0.6 |
| Employment | 2,435.1 | 2,449.4 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Full-time | 1,276.1 | 1,301.0 | 24.9 | 27.5 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| Part-time | 1,159.0 | 1,148.3 | -10.7 | -12.7 | -0.9 | -1.1 |
| Unemployment | 400.8 | 382.1 | -18.7 | -31.9 | -4.7 | -7.7 |
| Participation rate | 63.6 | 63.6 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.1 | 13.5 | -0.6 | -1.0 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 54.6 | 55.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 47.6 | 46.9 | -0.7 | -0.8 | … | … |
| Men, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,753.6 | 11,770.7 | 17.1 | 174.2 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 8,566.7 | 8,544.5 | -22.2 | 112.6 | -0.3 | 1.3 |
| Employment | 8,050.4 | 8,021.3 | -29.1 | 143.1 | -0.4 | 1.8 |
| Full-time | 7,444.0 | 7,418.2 | -25.8 | 152.5 | -0.3 | 2.1 |
| Part-time | 606.4 | 603.0 | -3.4 | -9.5 | -0.6 | -1.6 |
| Unemployment | 516.3 | 523.2 | 6.9 | -30.5 | 1.3 | -5.5 |
| Participation rate | 72.9 | 72.6 | -0.3 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.0 | 6.1 | 0.1 | -0.5 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.5 | 68.1 | -0.4 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Women, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 12,258.9 | 12,275.8 | 16.9 | 172.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Labour force | 7,623.3 | 7,592.5 | -30.8 | 97.9 | -0.4 | 1.3 |
| Employment | 7,182.1 | 7,175.0 | -7.1 | 128.4 | -0.1 | 1.8 |
| Full-time | 5,639.9 | 5,620.2 | -19.7 | 105.1 | -0.3 | 1.9 |
| Part-time | 1,542.2 | 1,554.9 | 12.7 | 23.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Unemployment | 441.2 | 417.5 | -23.7 | -30.5 | -5.4 | -6.8 |
| Participation rate | 62.2 | 61.8 | -0.4 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 5.8 | 5.5 | -0.3 | -0.5 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.6 | 58.4 | -0.2 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 21.5 | 21.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | … | … |
The 2013 Job Picture
- Less Jobs in January in Canada not a good start to 2013.
- More Jobs in February in Canada which is better than January.
- Job Picture Less Rosey in March for Canada 2013 seems to have had it’s ups and downs.
- Employment Hovers for April in Canada better than down.
- More Jobs for May in Canada never a bad thing.
- Employment Unchanged for June in Canada, swooning in the summer.
- 39000 Less Jobs in July in Canada ? Oh dear…
- More Part-time Jobs in Canada in August which isn’t a bad thing, but full-time would be better.
- More Working in September in Canada ? Good!
- Some More Jobs in Canada (but not a lot more) for October in 2013
- Better Job News in Canada for November ’tis the season.
- Ugly Job Numbers to End 2013 not the best way to end the year.
