from Brittney Windatt

Employment in Canada grew by 28,000 in June, continuing its rise for the third consecutive month.  According to June’s labour market survey report from Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate remains at 7.4 percent as the number of people participating in the labour market increased; however, since mid-2009, the unemployment rate has declined.

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from Brittney Windatt

The month of May brought a 1.6 percent increase in total employment over the previous 12 months, causing unemployment to drop 0.2 percent to 7.4 percent.  But a closer look paints a less optimistic picture: The increase in employment for the month of May was driven largely by a decline in the number of people looking for work and by more people becoming self-employed.  Private sector jobs growth remains weak.
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March 2011 was largely dominated by bad news for the economy: Most notably the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the deepening of the Libyan conflict. The disaster in Japan hit Canada’s local economy by disrupting the supply chains of local manufacturers. In Ontario, the impact on the automotive sector was particularly severe. The Honda plant in Alliston, for example, cut production by more than 50% indefinitely, apparently because the Japanese disaster made it impossible for it to source electrical parts that go into vehicles it assembles. The Libyan crisis also lead to some (potential as well as real) disruptions in the oil supply.  Employers typically respond to such signs of uncertainty by placing hiring decision on the backburner until the future becomes more clear (and brighter). So it was quite refreshing to see that Canada’s job market did actually quite well in March.
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Statistics Canada’s monthly job market survey for February 2011 was released on Friday, March 11th and paints a bleak picture. February saw employment gains of some 15,000 jobs, but these came on the heals of self-employed increasing by 26,000 jobs. This is hardly encouraging because many people pursue self-employment simply because they cannot find jobs – but the income that they generate tends to often be less than what they would expect to make if they were employed. This means that actual employment dropped by 11,000. The number of private sector workers declined. Read the rest of this entry »

In a new recently released report, Statistics Canada compared the job market impact of the recent economic downturn (2008-2010) with that of earlier recessions. According to the study, employment grew more quickly this time than in the previous two recessions of the early 80’s and early 90’s. However, the report may have overlooked some unique aspects of the impact that this downturn had on the job market.
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The Peel Halton Workforce Development Group, in partnership with Sheridan College and other government-sponsored employment services organizations in Peel and Halton Regions, are hosting their annual Peel and Halton job fair in Mississauga on March 30th. They are now looking for employers interested in participating in the event.

This event is partially funded by Employment Ontario, so the cost to employers is fairly low - $150 for “virtual” participation and $500 for an actual booth, and provides an opportunity to meet thousands of job seekers. If you are interested, you can find out more at the web site of the event, at:

http://www.peelhaltonjobfair.ca

You can also click here to download an electronic brochure introducing the event

Statistics Canada released its latest labour market survey results on Friday, February 4th - and it is good news. 69,000 new jobs were created, and although unemployment edged up, it was simply because more people were looking for work (and presumably feel more optimistic about their chances of finding employment). But overall, the economic climate remains uncertain - so the recovery will likely remain uneven.
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Canada’s economy has been weathering the “great recession” better than most other developed economies, we were told, and the proof was supposedly in the job numbers. Unemployment is still quite high, but until Friday, Statistics Canada was at least reporting that Canada’s economy had already regained all jobs lost in the recession.

But on Friday, January 28th, the story changed. Statistics Canada issued a revision to employment numbers that it had reported previously. It turned out that, after all, the jobs lost in the recession have not been recovered quite yet. Read the rest of this entry »

Two economic reports released in the first half of January 2011 paint a confusing, somewhat contradictory picture of Canada’s prospects for economic recovery this year. But both of them agree that any recovery will be subdued, a far cry from the solid recovery many were hoping to see. Read the rest of this entry »

On balance, the Labour Force Survey results released by Statistics Canada in January 2011 for December - the last month of 2010 – offered good news. Employment increased, the new jobs created were in the private sector, and a relatively high percentage of them were full-time jobs. Hiring demand levels that we (VicinityJobs.com) monitor were relatively high compared to previous months as well – staying at about 10% above last year’s levels.

But December’s report comes on the heels of bleak news from the past couple month. Overall, the job market recovery remains disappointingly slow and unstable, especially given the magnitude of the collapse that we experienced in late 2008: The job market must grow at much faster pace if it is to recoup the momentum it lost in the past couple of years. Yet we are registering hiring demand levels (measured by number of job postings published online) at about one third below their pre-recession level, and the jobs that are being advertised are different from those that were lost. Read the rest of this entry »