On Friday, our friends at Stats Canada published their Labour Force Survey for November 2011, which brought not-so-good, but not-too-bad news, with unemployment rising (again) this month. Canada lost 19,000 jobs last month, but as usual there is always fun with numbers from Stats Canada, which also stated:
Despite the recent declines, employment was up 1.2% (+212,000) from 12 months earlier.
A decline of 53,000 in part-time work was partially offset by an increase of 35,000 in full-time. Compared with a year earlier, the number of part-time workers was down 1.9% (-62,000), while full-time employment grew by 2.0% (+274,000). Over the same period, the total number of hours worked increased at the same rate as total employment (+1.2%).
Funny, isn’t it, how even with a drop there can be an increase? I love this kind of dichotomy in numbers. Another interesting point is the large drop in part-time jobs; however, there is an increase in part-time jobs, which I think is good news. My guess would be there will be an increase in December for part-time jobs, but maybe I am being optimistic.
Where did these jobs come from?
In November, there were employment losses in retail and wholesale trade, as well as business, building and other support services. These losses were partially offset by increases in “other services” (such as personal services and repair and maintenance), as well as in construction; natural resources; and utilities.
With the increase in unemployment, the following graph looks less sexy; that is for sure:
The Big Table
My favorite part of this info from Stats Canada is the tables of information that they publish, so here is one of my favorite:
Labour force characteristics by age and sex, seasonally adjusted
| Oct 2011 | Nov 2011 | Oct to Nov 2011 |
Nov 2010 to Nov 2011 |
Oct to Nov 2011 | Nov 2010 to Nov 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousands (except rates) | change in thousands (except rates) | % change | ||||
| Both sexes, 15 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 28,082.3 | 28,107.1 | 24.8 | 316.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Labour force | 18,719.9 | 18,721.7 | 1.8 | 193.6 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Employment | 17,345.6 | 17,327.0 | -18.6 | 212.1 | -0.1 | 1.2 |
| Full-time | 14,034.4 | 14,069.0 | 34.6 | 273.7 | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Part-time | 3,311.2 | 3,257.9 | -53.3 | -61.6 | -1.6 | -1.9 |
| Unemployment | 1,374.2 | 1,394.7 | 20.5 | -18.5 | 1.5 | -1.3 |
| Participation rate | 66.7 | 66.6 | -0.1 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 7.3 | 7.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 61.8 | 61.6 | -0.2 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 19.1 | 18.8 | -0.3 | -0.6 | … | … |
| Youths, 15 to 24 years | ||||||
| Population | 4,457.4 | 4,457.3 | -0.1 | -2.7 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Labour force | 2,887.5 | 2,867.3 | -20.2 | 54.2 | -0.7 | 1.9 |
| Employment | 2,479.5 | 2,461.7 | -17.8 | 31.4 | -0.7 | 1.3 |
| Full-time | 1,298.0 | 1,306.6 | 8.6 | 29.2 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| Part-time | 1,181.5 | 1,155.2 | -26.3 | 2.3 | -2.2 | 0.2 |
| Unemployment | 408.0 | 405.6 | -2.4 | 22.7 | -0.6 | 5.9 |
| Participation rate | 64.8 | 64.3 | -0.5 | 1.2 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 14.1 | 14.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 55.6 | 55.2 | -0.4 | 0.7 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 47.7 | 46.9 | -0.8 | -0.5 | … | … |
| Men, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 11,559.6 | 11,572.0 | 12.4 | 159.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Labour force | 8,398.6 | 8,383.0 | -15.6 | 45.7 | -0.2 | 0.5 |
| Employment | 7,872.2 | 7,850.2 | -22.0 | 80.0 | -0.3 | 1.0 |
| Full-time | 7,248.3 | 7,256.2 | 7.9 | 86.4 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Part-time | 623.9 | 594.0 | -29.9 | -6.4 | -4.8 | -1.1 |
| Unemployment | 526.5 | 532.8 | 6.3 | -34.3 | 1.2 | -6.0 |
| Participation rate | 72.7 | 72.4 | -0.3 | -0.7 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 6.3 | 6.4 | 0.1 | -0.4 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 68.1 | 67.8 | -0.3 | -0.3 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 7.9 | 7.6 | -0.3 | -0.1 | … | … |
| Women, 25 years and over | ||||||
| Population | 12,065.4 | 12,077.8 | 12.4 | 159.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Labour force | 7,433.7 | 7,471.4 | 37.7 | 93.7 | 0.5 | 1.3 |
| Employment | 6,994.0 | 7,015.1 | 21.1 | 100.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Full-time | 5,488.1 | 5,506.3 | 18.2 | 158.2 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| Part-time | 1,505.9 | 1,508.8 | 2.9 | -57.4 | 0.2 | -3.7 |
| Unemployment | 439.7 | 456.3 | 16.6 | -7.0 | 3.8 | -1.5 |
| Participation rate | 61.6 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | … | … |
| Unemployment rate | 5.9 | 6.1 | 0.2 | -0.2 | … | … |
| Employment rate | 58.0 | 58.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | … | … |
| Part-time rate | 21.5 | 21.5 | 0.0 | -1.2 | … | … |
Unemployment for 2011 Articles
- Unemployment Up to End 2011. In December, employment grew by 24,000 among people aged 55 and over. Employment for this age group rose 3.4% (+102,000) from 12 months earlier. This increase was almost entirely due to population aging, as the 55-and-over population grew by 3.2% over the period.
- Unemployment up in November 2011 in Canada. In November, employment fell in retail and wholesale trade, as well as business, building and other support services. These losses were partially offset by increases in “other services” (such as personal services and repair and maintenance), as well as in construction, natural resources, and utilities.
- Labour Numbers not good for October 2011 in Canada. After a September increase, employment fell by 54,000 in October, all full-time. October’s loss pushed the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 7.3%. Over the last year, total employment has risen by 237,000 (+1.4%).
- Optimistic Labour Numbers September 2011. Following two months of little change, employment rose by 61,000 in September, all in full time. This increase pushed the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage points to 7.1%, the lowest rate since December 2008.
- Employment Stalling in Canada (August 2011). Over the past 12 months, employment grew by 1.3% (+223,000), mainly in Ontario and Alberta and among private-sector employees. Over this period, full-time employment increased 2.2% (+300,000), part-time work declined 2.3% (-77,000), and total actual hours worked rose by 2.6%.
- Employment Stalls a little for July in Canada (2011). After three consecutive months of increases, employment changed little in July. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.2% as fewer people participated in the labour market.
- Employment Up in June in Canada (2011). Employment rose for the third consecutive month, up 28,000 in June. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.4% as labour market participation increased. Over the past 12 months, employment has grown by 238,000 (+1.4%).
Of course everyone looks at the employment rates but we should all be more focused on ourselves and our own employment. It is way to hard to keep track of what is going on that in doing so we can lose sight of what we need to do. It is true that everyone wants the economy to do well, but the last thing we should be doing is filing for bankruptcy because we were too focused on what is changing so often that we cant keep track.
Very interesting statistics. It’s hard to say when things will get better, but we just have to stay optimistic.
“Funny isn’t it, how even with a drop there can be an increase? I love this kind of dichotomy in numbers.”
For me, it makes it hard to take the unemployment rate number seriously these days. I feel like I can’t take the reporting at full value until I see what impacted the change.