News Update

Labour Force Survey

Following gains at the beginning of 2008, and little change from April to June, employment dropped by 55,000 in July. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, as many people, particularly youth, left the labour force.

 

While employment grew by 1.3% over the last 12 months (+227,000), the pace of growth has slowed in recent months. Employment gains have averaged 10,000 per month thus far in 2008 compared with an average monthly gain of 30,000 for 2007.

 

Most of the employment losses in July were in part time, down 48,000. Over the last 12 months, however, part-time employment has grown by 3.5%, much faster than the 0.9% growth in full time.

 

Employment decreases in July occurred in manufacturing; business, building and other support services; and educational services. The only significant gains were in accommodation and food services.

 

Losses for the month were notable for private sector employees, while the public sector saw some gains. Since July 2007, employment in the public sector has grown by 6.1%, compared with 0.5% for the private sector.

 

July's employment losses occurred in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

 






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