Canada: Employment Up In April

Canadian employment edged up slightly in April (+19,000), similar to the increase observed in March. This follows large gains at the start of the year. Statistics Canada reported that the unemployment rate nudged up to 6.1 percent in April. Self-employment and full-time work accounted for all of the employment gains in April.

Over the past 12 months, employment increased by an estimated 348,000 (+2.1%), with full time growing twice as fast as part time. The employment rate, the share of the working-age population who are employed, continued to hover around a record high in April.

Accommodation & Food
With gains in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, accommodation and food services continued to add employment in April (+22,000). These recent increases offset losses observed towards the latter part of last year.

Construction
Construction employment continued on its upward trend in April (+16,000). This brings employment gains over the last 12 months to 113,000 (+10.1%), the largest of any industry.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing employment edged down in April, continuing the downward slide that began towards the end of 2002. Over the last 12 months alone, employment fell by 112,000, with nearly half the losses in Ontario (-50,000) and the remainder mainly in British Columbia (-29,000), Quebec (-13,000) and Alberta (-11,000).

Manitoba
In April, employment increased by an estimated 9,000 in Manitoba, boosting employment growth over the past 12 months to 3.1 percent. The added employment in April pushed the unemployment rate down 0.5 percentage points to 3.8 percent, the second lowest in the country after Alberta. Manitoba’s employment and participation rates both attained all-time highs in April.

Ontario
Employment in Ontario edged up 12,000 in April, mainly among younger workers, bringing growth since April 2007 to 2.2 percent, just above the national average. Increases over this period occurred in construction as well as several service industries. However, the downward trend in manufacturing employment continued, with a decline of 15,000 in April.

Newfoundland & Labrador
Newfoundland & Labrador experienced an employment gain in April (+2,400), continuing the upward trend which started last summer, bringing its employment rate to a record high of 52.6 percent. Over the last 12 months, employment has increased by 2.3 percent, with growth stemming from construction, professional, scientific and technical services as well as public administration.

Alberta and British Columbia
In Alberta and British Columbia, the continued strength of the labour market resulted in record high employment rates in April for both provinces. Employment growth in British Columbia and Alberta over the last 12 months has been above the national average, at 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent respectively. In April, there was little change in employment in both provinces.

Quebec
Employment in Quebec fell by an estimated 20,000 in April, mostly among youths, pushing the unemployment rate in the province up 0.3 percentage points to 7.6 percent. This is the first significant employment decline in two years. There were fewer people working this April in a number of service industries and in agriculture. The decrease leaves employment in the province up only 0.7 percent (+27,000) above the level of 12 months ago.

More adult women working
Women aged 25 and over were the only demographic group to experience employment growth in April (+17,000), once again keeping their unemployment rate below that of adult men (4.7% versus 5.2%). Despite this month’s increase, the rate of employment growth for adult women since April 2007 (+1.6%), was below that of adult men (+2.4%).