Statistics Canada reported today that 672,200 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits in July, down 31,400 from June. They also stated that the decline offset the increases in spring and brought the number of beneficiaries to March levels.
(more…)

Statistics Canada has just released the results of its labour market survey for the month of August. The report did not contain any surprises and in line with expectations of various job market players and with hiring demand reports provided by Vicinity Jobs (including our forecasts discussed in our blog in recent months). (more…)

According to the results from a recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, Canadian employers are expecting a consistent hiring climate for Q4 2010. In the course of the next three months, the Manufacturing-Durables industry sector expect to see an active hiring pace — the most optimistic forecast in the past 10 years.
(more…)

On the face of it, the July unemployment numbers released by Statistics Canada on August 6, 2010 look quite disappointing: Unemployment increased across Canada, growing from 7.9% to 8%. The only bright spot really seemed to be Western Canada (whose economy is strongly dependant on the resource industries and on the commodity market trends). Unemployment in BC dipped 0.3 percentage points from 7.8% to 7.5%. However, hiring demand that that VicinityJobs.com gathers suggests that the worsening is unlikely to persist – at least in the Greater Toronto Area. (more…)

Statistics Canada released its monthly labour market survey report  this morning (July 10th) for the month of June, and overall, it is fairly good news (the original report is found here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100709/dq100709a-eng.htm). Canada’s economy created 93,000 jobs – significantly more than generally expected. The trend was lead by Ontario, whereas employment in British Columbia remained unchanged.

(more…)

Statistics Canada published the results of its monthly labour market survey on Friday, June 4th. It indicates that even though Canada’s unemployment rate did not change in May, unemployment in Ontario and British Columbia grew. (more…)

Statistics Canada released its latest labour force survey on Friday (read the full survey here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100507/dq100507a-eng.htm ), and it seems to be all good news. Employment grew in April at a rate not seen since 2002. In fact, the rate of employment gains in April was comparable to the magnitude of monthly employment losses that we were seeing in the early months of the recession.
(more…)

February GDP data which Statistics Canada published on April 30, 2010 indicates that real GDP grew by 0.3%. This is welcome news that seems to indicate that an economic recovery is, indeed, taking hold. Yet the pace of the recovery is still fairly anemic and mired by various risk factors – so the economy is not out of woods quite yet.
(more…)

When Statistics Canada released its labour force survey on Nov. 6th, reactions in the media seemed to reflect a mix of surprise and frustration. Unemployment had edged up in October, and many saw this as a sign that we may be in for a jobless recovery – characterized by GDP growth combined with chronic high unemployment levels. Although this does remain a possibility, we believe that such fears are premature. (more…)