Apologies for the lateness of my normal commentary on the Employment numbers from Stats Canada, I was planning on doing it over the Long Weekend, but got diverted.
The Labor Force Survey for September showed some odd trends in it. For one a big drop in Part Time jobs, but then a large increase in Full Time jobs, which sounds like a good thing, but there really isn’t a very good index to figure out whether this is a good balance or not? If anyone knows of this kind of index, feel free to chime in.
So Unemployment edged down just a little, and employment stayed the same, but the question remains, what if we had 100% employment but all the jobs were part time? Could we then have 200% employment (i.e. part time folks with 2 jobs each?).
In September, the part-time employment decline of 44,000 was mostly offset by an increase of 37,000 in full time. Over the past year, however, part-time employment has grown by 4.6% (+146,000), a faster pace than the 1.5% growth in full time (+203,000).Employment among 15- to 24-year-olds declined in September. For workers aged 25 to 54, increases among men were offset by declines among women. Both men and women aged 55 and over posted employment increases.
So old men are finding jobs? I assume those might be part time as well?!?
Th Unemployment graph is a little more optimistic:
Ontario took it in the teeth with 23,000 jobs lost, so other areas of the country enjoyed an upswing.
Another disappointing quote is:
In September, employment in professional, scientific and technical services declined by 32,000 (-2.4%). Despite this drop, employment in this industry has grown by 86,000, or 7.2%, over the past 12 months, one of the highest rates of growth among all major industries.
Which means those with white(r) collars are feeling the pinch a little as well.
The BIG Table
Now look up….. waaaayyyy up…. and I’ll call Rusty, no wait, that’s the Friendly Giant, here is the BIG table of info.
| August 2010 | September 2010 | Aug to Sept 2010 | Sept 2009 to Sept 2010 | Aug to Sept 2010 | Sept 2009 to Sept 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | ||||||
| thousands | change in thousands | % change | ||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 27,779.5 | 27,809.6 | 30.1 | 408.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Labour force | 18,727.1 | 18,702.7 | -24.4 | 314.1 | -0.1 | 1.7 |
| Employment | 17,216.3 | 17,209.7 | -6.6 | 349.0 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| Full-time | 13,825.5 | 13,862.6 | 37.1 | 203.2 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Part-time | 3,390.8 | 3,347.1 | -43.7 | 145.8 | -1.3 | 4.6 |
| Unemployment | 1,510.9 | 1,493.0 | -17.9 | -34.9 | -1.2 | -2.3 |
| Participation rate | 67.4 | 67.3 | -0.1 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 8.1 | 8.0 | -0.1 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 62.0 | 61.9 | -0.1 | 0.4 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 19.7 | 19.4 | -0.3 | 0.4 | … | … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | ||||||
| Population | 4,408.9 | 4,409.3 | 0.4 | 10.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Labour force | 2,862.5 | 2,821.0 | -41.5 | -1.5 | -1.4 | -0.1 |
| Employment | 2,443.5 | 2,401.6 | -41.9 | 5.6 | -1.7 | 0.2 |
| Full-time | 1,242.2 | 1,250.1 | 7.9 | -39.7 | 0.6 | -3.1 |
| Part-time | 1,201.3 | 1,151.6 | -49.7 | 45.5 | -4.1 | 4.1 |
| Unemployment | 419.0 | 419.4 | 0.4 | -7.1 | 0.1 | -1.7 |
| Participation rate | 64.9 | 64.0 | -0.9 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.6 | 14.9 | 0.3 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 55.4 | 54.5 | -0.9 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 49.2 | 48.0 | -1.2 | 1.8 | … | … |
| Men, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,433.0 | 11,447.7 | 14.7 | 198.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Labour force | 8,420.1 | 8,443.1 | 23.0 | 186.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Employment | 7,794.8 | 7,841.1 | 46.3 | 255.0 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| Full-time | 7,179.2 | 7,213.3 | 34.1 | 221.4 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Part-time | 615.7 | 627.8 | 12.1 | 33.7 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| Unemployment | 625.3 | 602.1 | -23.2 | -68.4 | -3.7 | -10.2 |
| Participation rate | 73.6 | 73.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.4 | 7.1 | -0.3 | -1.0 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.2 | 68.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 7.9 | 8.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | … | … |
| Women, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,937.6 | 11,952.7 | 15.1 | 199.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| Labour force | 7,444.5 | 7,438.5 | -6.0 | 128.9 | -0.1 | 1.8 |
| Employment | 6,977.9 | 6,967.0 | -10.9 | 88.3 | -0.2 | 1.3 |
| Full-time | 5,404.1 | 5,399.2 | -4.9 | 21.5 | -0.1 | 0.4 |
| Part-time | 1,573.8 | 1,567.7 | -6.1 | 66.7 | -0.4 | 4.4 |
| Unemployment | 466.6 | 471.6 | 5.0 | 40.7 | 1.1 | 9.4 |
| Participation rate | 62.4 | 62.2 | -0.2 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.3 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.5 | 58.3 | -0.2 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 22.6 | 22.5 | -0.1 | 0.7 | … | … |
Now I’ll just close the big drawbridge after you leave…
I am not too sure if the situation is improving. I am in touch with friends and we still don’t feel that the picture has improved or changed much. Companies are still hiring very selectively.
Why did the Friendly Giant fire Rusty the Rooster?
Cuz he was always half in the bag… 😉
On a more serious note, I have absolutely no idea if those numbers bode well or not… I’m just glad I’m still receiving paychecks!
Rusty always did sound kind of half-cut anyhow… he would always slur, “Heelloo Fffriendly…”