June 2010
Employment rose by 93,000 in June, pushing the unemployment rate down
0.2 percentage points to 7.9%. This is the first time the rate has been
below the 8% mark since January 2009.
Employment has been on an upward trend since July 2009, increasing by
403,000 (+2.4%). These gains offset nearly all the employment losses
observed during the labour market downturn which began in the fall of
2008. The June unemployment rate, however, remained well above the
October 2008 rate of 6.2%, due to a large increase in the number of
people in the labour force over this period.
Employment increases were evenly split between full and part time in
June. Since July 2009, most of the employment gains have been in
full-time work, up 355,000 or 2.6%, while part-time work rose by 1.5%.
Notable employment increases in June were in service industries
including retail and wholesale trade; business, building and other
support services; health care and social assistance; and other services
such as automotive repair and personal care services.
In June, there were continued gains in the number of private sector
employees. The number of self-employed workers also increased, while
there was little change among public sector employees.
Virtually all of June's employment gains were in Ontario (+60,000)
and Quebec (+30,000). At the same time, there were declines in
Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. There was little employment
change in all other provinces.
The employment increases in June were led by core-aged men 25 to 54,
followed by workers 55 years and over and youths 15 to 24.
The average hourly wage for employees was 1.7% higher in June
compared with the same month last year.
Robust employment gains in service
industries
There were 22,000 additional workers in retail and wholesale trade in
June, bringing total gains to 69,000 (+2.6%) since July 2009.
Employment in business, building and other support services increased
by 20,000 in June. This industry has shown strength since the start of
the year, with gains totalling 86,000 (+14.0%) over the period.
Health care and social assistance continued its long-term upward
trend, with an increase of 20,000 in June.
Employment also increased in June in other services such as
automotive repair and personal care services, up 17,000.
In the goods-producing sector, employment in construction edged up
11,000. This industry has had the fastest growth rate of all major
industry groups since July 2009 (+8.3% or +94,000).
On the other hand, employment in manufacturing dipped by 14,000 in
June. While employment in this industry is little changed since July
2009, it remains well below its October 2008 level (-235,000 or -11.9%).
The number of private sector employees increased by 52,000 in June.
At the same time, there were 26,000 more self-employed workers. Since
July 2009, the number of employees in the private sector has risen by
349,000 (+3.3%), with most of the gains in recent months. The number of
public sector workers has risen by 2.6% over the same period, while
self-employment has declined by 1.3%.
Gains concentrated in Ontario and Quebec
Ontario's employment was up 60,000 in June, the sixth consecutive
monthly gain. This brings employment increases in the province to
187,000 (+2.9%) since July 2009. With these gains, Ontario's employment
is slightly below its pre-recession level. In June, the unemployment
rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 8.3%, the lowest since January 2009.
In June, employment increased by 30,000 in Quebec and the
unemployment rate dipped 0.2 percentage points to 7.8%. Since July 2009,
employment growth in Quebec has been the fastest of all provinces at
3.0% (+117,000).
Employment in Newfoundland and Labrador fell by 8,100 in June,
offsetting the increase of the month before. The unemployment rate
increased by 0.9 percentage points to 14.7%, a rate similar to those
observed earlier this year. Despite the employment decline in June,
growth since July 2009 has been 2.9%, a faster rate of growth than the
national average of 2.4%.
Employment in New Brunswick also fell in June (-4,400). This pushed
the unemployment rate in the province up 0.5 percentage points to 9.3%.
Following two months of growth, employment in Alberta was little
changed in June. Since July 2009, employment in this province has risen
by 0.8% (+15,000), the slowest growth rate of all provinces.
Core-aged men lead employment gains
Among core-aged workers (25 to 54), employment increased by 41,000 in
June, all among men. Since July 2009, there has been employment growth
for both core-aged men (+1.8%) and women (+1.6%). With these gains,
core-age women are back to their pre-recession employment levels. In
contrast, employment among core-age men still remains 90,000 below their
October 2008 level.
In June, employment increased by 31,000 among those aged 55 and over.
Since July 2009, employment growth has been the fastest for this age
group (+5.3%).
Employment also rose among youths aged 15 to 24 in June, up 21,000.
This pushed their unemployment rate down 0.5 percentage points to 14.6%.
Since July 2009, youth employment has grown by 60,000, but still remains
148,000 below the October 2008 peak.
An improved student summer labour market
compared with a year ago
From May to August, the Labour Force Survey collects labour market
information about young people aged 15 to 24 who were attending school
full time in March and intend to return to school in the fall. The May
and June survey results provide the first indicators of the summer job
market. The data for July and August will provide further insight into
the summer job market. The published estimates are not seasonally
adjusted; therefore, comparisons can only be made on a year-over-year
basis.
Compared with the same month a year earlier, employment increased by
63,000 in June 2010 for students aged 20 to 24. This pushed their
unemployment rate down 3.7 percentage points to 10.3%. Despite this
improvement, their unemployment rate remains above that of June 2008
(9.2%), a summer when student employment was particularly strong.
The labour market for 17 to 19 year-old students improved marginally
in June, as their employment edged up 11,000 from June 2009. Their
unemployment rate declined 2.1 percentage points to 16.0% in June, but
remained well above the rate of 11.7% observed in June 2008.
Quarterly update on territories
The Labour Force Survey also collects labour market information about
the territories. This information is produced monthly in the form of
three-month moving averages. Not all estimates are seasonally adjusted,
therefore comparisons should only be made on a year-over-year basis.
In Nunavut, while employment increased slightly for the three months
ending in June 2010 compared with the same period last year, there were
more people looking for work, which pushed the unemployment rate up from
14.5% to 19.7%.
The number of people working in the Northwest Territories in the
second quarter was little changed compared with the same quarter in
2009. The unemployment rate increased from 6.6% to 7.4% however, as more
people were searching for work.
There was little overall change in the Yukon labour market in the
second quarter compared with a year earlier. The unemployment rate in
the Yukon was 7.8%, little changed from a year earlier.
Payroll employment,
earnings and hours
May 2010 (preliminary)
In May, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees rose by
3.7% from May 2009 to $848.45. This was the fastest year-over-year
increase since February 2008.
In recent months, the pace of growth in earnings has increased. May
marked the sixth consecutive month for which the year-over-year increase
was at or above 2.3%. During the prior eight months, year-over-year
increases were below 1.8%.
Average weekly earnings by industry
Among Canada's largest industrial sectors, growth in average weekly
earnings from May 2009 to May 2010 were at or above average in
administration and support, waste management and remediation services
(+10.9%), educational services (+10.3%), accommodation and food services
(+6.5%), wholesale trade (+5.4%), manufacturing (+5.3%) and
professional, scientific and technical services (+4.3%).
Among the largest industrial sectors, manufacturing has had the most
notable shift in average weekly earnings. Between July 2008 and October
2009, earnings in this sector declined by 6.1%, although since October
2009 they have almost recovered (+5.4%).
Among the larger manufacturing industries, this earnings shift was
most notable in wood, chemical, primary metal and machinery
manufacturing. At $948.93 in May, average weekly earnings in
manufacturing were among the highest monthly levels since July 2008.
Average weekly earnings by province
Average weekly earnings on a year-over-year basis increased in every
province in May. The fastest increases occurred in Prince Edward Island
(+5.9%), Saskatchewan (+5.0%), Alberta (+4.4%), and Nova Scotia (+4.1%).
New Brunswick had the slowest rate of growth (+2.3%).
Overall, Alberta had the highest average weekly earnings, at $985.17
in May, followed by Ontario at $874.66. These were the only two
provinces in which earnings were above the national average of $848.45.
Since payroll employment started to increase in August 2009, earnings
have increased near or above the national average rate of 3.0% in all
provinces except Quebec (+2.4%), Manitoba (+1.5%) and New Brunswick
(+0.8%).
Non-farm payroll employment by industry
Non-farm payroll employment declined by 0.2% in May (-25,000). The
declines were spread across a number of services industries, while
employment in the goods-producing sector was little changed. Despite
May's losses, the number of payroll employees has increased by 0.9%
since August 2009 (+128,300).
The most notable employment declines in services were in
administrative and support, waste management and remediation services;
accommodation and food services; retail trade and health care and social
assistance.
Payroll employment fell by 1.7% in administrative and support, waste
management and remediation services in May (-12,300). Despite this
decline, employment in this industry has increased by 1.4% since August
2009 (+9,900). Job losses in May were particularly notable in
investigation and security services; employment services; business
support services; and services to buildings and dwellings.
In accommodation and food services, payroll employment declined by
1.3% in May (-13,500), the third consecutive monthly loss. Since August
2009, payroll employment in this industry has declined by 1.7%
(-18,400). May's job decline was mainly in full-service restaurants and
limited-service eating places.
Payroll jobs in retail trade fell by 0.5% in May (-9,100), with
losses mainly in building material and supplies dealers as well as
grocery stores and clothing stores. Since August 2009, employment in
retail trade has declined by 0.4% (-7,400), largely due to the decline
in May.
Payroll employment declined by 0.5% in health care and social
assistance (-7,600). May's drop occurred mainly in ambulatory health
care services (such as offices of health care practitioners and
out-patient care centres), and social assistance. This was the first
notable decline in health care and social assistance since January 2009.
The number of payroll jobs in this industry has increased by 1.5%
(+23,000) since August 2009.
Despite job losses across many service industries in May, there was
modest job growth of 1.5% (+2,800) in mining, quarrying and oil and gas
extraction. Payroll employment in this industry has been on an upward
trend since November 2009, increasing by 8.6% (+14,700) during this
time. This increase was driven mainly by support activities for mining,
oil and gas extraction; and mining and quarrying.
There was little employment change in manufacturing in May. Since
August 2009, factory jobs have risen by 0.5% (+7,100).
Hours worked and average hours worked by
salaried and hourly wage employees
There was a 0.2% decline in total hours worked by hourly and salaried
employees in May, following three consecutive monthly increases. Average
weekly hours worked by hourly and salaried employees stood at 32.9 hours
in May, close to the average for the past year.
