On Friday Stats Canada put out their Labour Force Survey for May 2013 and there was some good news in that there were 95,000 (mostly full-time) jobs in the economy (month to month). These new numbers also pushed the Unemployment Rate down 0.1%, again good to hear. To quote the report directly:
Employment rose in construction; retail and wholesale trade; “other services;” and business, building and other support services.
While that is good news, more money in construction, could mean the over-priced Canadian housing industry is bubbling employment (as well as cost of living) and if the bubble ever goes burst, where will these jobs go (my assumption is down the toilet)?
A more heartening statement from the report was:
All of the employment gains in May were among private sector employees, offsetting losses over the previous two months for this group.
More private sector jobs is a good thing for the economy. Canada is relying far too much on the public sector to keep folks employed, and the more private sector jobs (hopefully not all in construction) is a good thing.
A Big Table
Where were the gains by age group? Luckily the lost generation seems to be getting jobs (15-24) and we old folks are finding work as well (hopefully not as sheet rock installers (a young person’s job)):
Labour force characteristics by age and sex Seasonally adjusted
| April 2013 | May 2013 | Std error1 | April to May 2013 |
May 2012 to May 2013 |
April to May 2013 |
May 2012 to May 2013 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousands (except rates) | change in thousands (except rates) | % change | |||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | |||||||
| Population | 28,588.7 | 28,619.6 | … | 30.9 | 348.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Labour force | 19,016.1 | 19,097.0 | 29.1 | 80.9 | 217.6 | 0.4 | 1.2 |
| Employment | 17,654.4 | 17,749.4 | 28.7 | 95.0 | 250.2 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Full-time | 14,355.0 | 14,431.7 | 38.2 | 76.7 | 258.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Part-time | 3,299.4 | 3,317.6 | 35.1 | 18.2 | -8.7 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Unemployment | 1,361.7 | 1,347.6 | 25.2 | -14.1 | -32.7 | -1.0 | -2.4 |
| Participation rate | 66.5 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.2 | 7.1 | 0.1 | -0.1 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 61.8 | 62.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 18.7 | 18.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | |||||||
| Population | 4,451.2 | 4,450.1 | … | -1.1 | -7.2 | 0.0 | -0.2 |
| Labour force | 2,839.5 | 2,873.4 | 17.2 | 33.9 | 31.5 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Employment | 2,428.1 | 2,482.5 | 15.9 | 54.4 | 48.2 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
| Full-time | 1,292.0 | 1,338.0 | 18.5 | 46.0 | 60.5 | 3.6 | 4.7 |
| Part-time | 1,136.2 | 1,144.6 | 19.4 | 8.4 | -12.2 | 0.7 | -1.1 |
| Unemployment | 411.4 | 390.9 | 15.1 | -20.5 | -16.7 | -5.0 | -4.1 |
| Participation rate | 63.8 | 64.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.5 | 13.6 | 0.5 | -0.9 | -0.7 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 54.5 | 55.8 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 46.8 | 46.1 | 0.7 | -0.7 | -1.4 | … | … |
| Men, 25 years and over | |||||||
| Population | 11,815.9 | 11,831.8 | … | 15.9 | 177.9 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 8,567.0 | 8,593.7 | 15.1 | 26.7 | 92.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Employment | 8,042.6 | 8,058.4 | 16.3 | 15.8 | 87.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 |
| Full-time | 7,416.7 | 7,442.2 | 21.6 | 25.5 | 79.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Part-time | 625.9 | 616.3 | 17.4 | -9.6 | 8.0 | -1.5 | 1.3 |
| Unemployment | 524.4 | 535.3 | 14.7 | 10.9 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 |
| Participation rate | 72.5 | 72.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -0.4 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.1 | 6.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.1 | 68.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 7.8 | 7.6 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Women, 25 years and over | |||||||
| Population | 12,321.5 | 12,337.6 | … | 16.1 | 177.2 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 7,609.6 | 7,629.8 | 16.5 | 20.2 | 93.9 | 0.3 | 1.2 |
| Employment | 7,183.7 | 7,208.4 | 16.4 | 24.7 | 114.5 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
| Full-time | 5,646.4 | 5,651.6 | 25.0 | 5.2 | 118.8 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| Part-time | 1,537.4 | 1,556.8 | 23.6 | 19.4 | -4.4 | 1.3 | -0.3 |
| Unemployment | 425.9 | 421.4 | 13.4 | -4.5 | -20.6 | -1.1 | -4.7 |
| Participation rate | 61.8 | 61.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 5.6 | 5.5 | 0.2 | -0.1 | -0.4 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.3 | 58.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 21.4 | 21.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -0.4 | … | … |
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.
Around here a lot of the housing starts are raze and re-builds to put a monstrous house on an old-fashioned (e.g. reasonable size) lot. It doesn’t increase the supply pool, per se, but it does increase the average home cost. I’m not sure how exactly this type of construction will impact jobs in housing but it might help a bit if new subdivision type building falls off sharply.
I have noticed the same with the construction here in the US. I see a lot of building but there is still so much inventory. Some aren’t even listed as banks really want you to think there is limited supply. Don’t know if we can stand another housing burst.