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.

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We are happy and proud to announce that the Vicinity Jobs network grew again this week. This time, we expanded into a completely new set of communities far away from Southern Ontario.
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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…)

Do you want to help understand the Employment Market trends in York Region?

York Region’s Planning and Development Services Department is conducting two major employment surveys on long term career opportunities in York Region. They are looking for the input from York Region residents who are in the baby boomers or youth age groups.
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Hiring demand actually increased slightly in June compared to May in all four suburban GTA regions. However, since the hiring demand levels in May were among this year’s worst, the correction amounted for little more than a return to the flat trend that we have been seeing since the job market took a deep dive at the end of 2008. We are still not seeing signs of recovery in the Toronto area’s job markets, and we do not expect to see much in the way of recovery until the 3rd quarter of 2009. (more…)

VicinityJobs.com, in partnership with Sheridan College (in Oakville) and the Newmarket Employment Resource Centre (in Newmarket), will host two free seminars on the topic of “Job Market and Hiring Demand Trends in Suburban Toronto”. The events will take place in Oakville on June 23rd and in Newmarket on July 9th.
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VicinityJobs.com, in cooperation with the Toronto Centre for Education and Training, will host a free seminar for job seekers in the Mississauga Employment Resource Centre on June 25th starting at 2 pm, titled “Marketing Yourself Online”. (note that the original date announced was June 23rd, but the event has now been re-scheduled for June 25th) Job seekers will get an overview of the major providers of online job search tools in the GTA, their strengths and weaknesses, and understand the differences between job boards, vertical search engines, agency web sites, contract work outsourcing web sites, etc.

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A new StatCan report regarding May’s Employment Numbers indicates that employment in Canada decreased by 42,000 in May and unemployment rose to 8.4% - Canada’s highest rate for 11 years. The job losses were concentrated in Ontario, where unemployment reached 9.4% - its highest value in 15 years. In fact, Ontario lost 60,000 jobs in May, bringing total losses since last October to 234,000 or 3.5%. While Ontario accounts for 39% of the total working-age population, it has experienced 64% of overall employment losses since the start of the labour market downturn. The remaining provinces saw little changes in May, and Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan even experienced increases in employment.
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Research that we have done at VicinityJobs.com/FairyLakeJobs.net indicates that the ongoing recession has impacted hiring demand in York Region more severely than in most other suburban GTA communities. Our research is based on analysis of hundreds of thousands of postings for jobs in various suburban GTA communities published on all major online job boards and on a number of employer web sites.
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