Canadian Personal Finance Blog

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January 11th, 2010

Nothing New on Jobs Front

Nothing New on Jobs Front

Stats Canada published their Labor Force survery for December 2009 on Friday, and it seemed to suggest not much changed in December after a surge in November. This is to be expected with most firms slowing down for the holidays, so the data really only reflect a 2/3 of a month snapshot (if someone got hired between Christmas and New Years I would be very surprised (but it would be a nice present too)).

In the last nine months, employment has stabilized but remains 323,000 (-1.9%) below the October 2008 peak.

Very interesting statement, but given we are only “recovering” not attempting to get back to record highs, it is a slow and steady slope.

December Employment Graph

At least the graph does not show a slope down.

Unemployment Flat Too

The good thing is that this month’s data also shows that unemployment is stable as well, although seeing it drop would be another good sign of the “recovery” gaining momentum.

December 2009 Unemployment Numbers

Following a large increase in November, employment was unchanged in December and the unemployment rate remained at 8.5%.

Another Big Table

This is the big table of Labour Force Characteristics by Age and Sex

Labour force characteristics by age and sex
Nov 2009 Dec 2009 Nov to Dec 2009 Dec 2008 to Dec 2009 Nov to Dec 2009 Dec 2008 to Dec 2009
Seasonally adjusted
thousands change in thousands % change
Both sexes, 15 years and over
Population 27,463.3 27,490.7 27.4 392.0 0.1 1.4
Labour force 18,448.0 18,439.1 -8.9 117.9 0.0 0.6
Employment 16,873.9 16,871.3 -2.6 -239.7 0.0 -1.4
Full-time 13,664.7 13,662.3 -2.4 -259.4 0.0 -1.9
Part-time 3,209.1 3,208.9 -0.2 19.6 0.0 0.6
Unemployment 1,574.2 1,567.8 -6.4 357.7 -0.4 29.6
Participation rate 67.2 67.1 -0.1 -0.5
Unemployment rate 8.5 8.5 0.0 1.9
Employment rate 61.4 61.4 0.0 -1.7
Part-time rate 19.0 19.0 0.0 0.4
Youths, 15 to 24 years
Population 4,399.9 4,400.3 0.4 15.9 0.0 0.4
Labour force 2,831.3 2,848.2 16.9 -82.3 0.6 -2.8
Employment 2,381.7 2,389.8 8.1 -164.1 0.3 -6.4
Full-time 1,267.9 1,270.5 2.6 -120.4 0.2 -8.7
Part-time 1,113.7 1,119.3 5.6 -43.7 0.5 -3.8
Unemployment 449.6 458.4 8.8 81.7 2.0 21.7
Participation rate 64.3 64.7 0.4 -2.1
Unemployment rate 15.9 16.1 0.2 3.2
Employment rate 54.1 54.3 0.2 -3.9
Part-time rate 46.8 46.8 0.0 1.3
Men, 25 years and over
Population 11,280.4 11,293.8 13.4 191.1 0.1 1.7
Labour force 8,250.5 8,259.1 8.6 86.4 0.1 1.1
Employment 7,582.7 7,592.6 9.9 -106.7 0.1 -1.4
Full-time 6,981.3 6,989.7 8.4 -169.2 0.1 -2.4
Part-time 601.3 602.9 1.6 62.5 0.3 11.6
Unemployment 667.9 666.5 -1.4 193.1 -0.2 40.8
Participation rate 73.1 73.1 0.0 -0.5
Unemployment rate 8.1 8.1 0.0 2.3
Employment rate 67.2 67.2 0.0 -2.1
Part-time rate 7.9 7.9 0.0 0.9
Women, 25 years and over
Population 11,783.0 11,796.6 13.6 185.0 0.1 1.6
Labour force 7,366.2 7,331.8 -34.4 113.9 -0.5 1.6
Employment 6,909.5 6,888.9 -20.6 31.1 -0.3 0.5
Full-time 5,415.5 5,402.1 -13.4 30.2 -0.2 0.6
Part-time 1,494.0 1,486.7 -7.3 0.8 -0.5 0.1
Unemployment 456.7 442.9 -13.8 82.9 -3.0 23.0
Participation rate 62.5 62.2 -0.3 0.0
Unemployment rate 6.2 6.0 -0.2 1.0
Employment rate 58.6 58.4 -0.2 -0.7
Part-time rate 21.6 21.6 0.0 -0.1
More on this topic (What's this?)
Happy Thanksgiving 2009!
The Real Unemployment Rate is 17.3%
Where the Jobs Are
Read more on Unemployment (U.S.), Holiday Season at Wikinvest

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