Canadian employment continued its decline in March, losing 61,000 full-time jobs. As a result, national unemployment rose by 0.3 percentage points, to 8.0 percent. The country hasn't seen that rate since the brief economic decline in the early 2000s.

Since October 2008, the Canadian job market has faced a net loss of 357,000 jobs-387,000 lost in full-time work, and 30,000 gained in part-time.

In some good news, average hourly wages continued to increase in March, growing 4.3 percent compared with March 2008.

Sector news

Several industries suffered losses: manufacturing; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing; construction; and natural resources were hit the hardest.

In March, manufacturing employment declined by 34,000-down 134,000 since October. The losses mainly occurred in fabricated and primary metal; motor vehicle, body and parts; and wood products.

Construction employment declined by 18,000 in March. The sector has been up and down since the beginning of this downturn, and has seen some of the greatest climbs and falls. From January to October 2008, construction enjoyed the fastest employment growth in the country, but since then it has seen the quickest drop. The sector has lost 99,000 jobs since October, mostly in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

Due mostly to Alberta's precipitous economic decline, employment in the natural resources has suffered greatly, losing 11,000 jobs in March.

In services, the finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector lost 20,000 jobs in March; and accommodation and food services lost 15,000. However, these losses were offset by significant gains in “other services” (23,000 jobs) and business, building and other support services (13,000).

The provinces

The majority of provinces experienced losses as well. British Columbia lost 22,600 jobs, Alberta lost 14,900, Ontario lost 10,800, Manitoba lost 4,000, Nova Scotia lost 3,000, and even steady Saskatchewan lost 3,000 jobs.

Employment in BC has declined by 69,000 jobs since the downturn began in October. As a result, in March, unemployment in the province rose to 7.4 percent.

Alberta's employment has declined by 48,000 since October, pushing unemployment to 5.8 percent.

Ontario has seen the worst overall decline since the downturn began, losing 171,000 jobs. However, the province's unemployment rate remains at 8.7 percent.

Demographics

Core-aged men (25 to 54), youths (15 to 24), and older women (55 and over) suffered the greatest employment losses in March. The men lost 26,000 jobs-far fewer than the previous month's loss-while employment among core-aged women remained steady. Since October, adult men have lost 197,000 jobs, while adult women have lost 39,000.

Youth employment continued its decline in March, but at a slower rate than in February. The group lost 19,000 jobs over the month. Since October, youth employment has dropped by 122,000 jobs.

In February, older women enjoyed a strong employment increase of 17,000 jobs; but in March, those added jobs were nearly offset by losses of 13,000. Nevertheless, since October, employment among older women has increased by 9,000. This is the only demographic group to enjoy an employment increase since the beginning of the downturn.

Source: Statistics Canada

About the Author:
Adam Gorley, is assistant editor at HRinfodesk.com--Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News.

Originally published in HRinfodesk--Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News and Developments
April 2009.

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