Employment Rate up for Second Consecutive Month

Over 50,000 jobs were added in September across the nation.
Employment Rate up for Second Consecutive Month
Omid Ghoreishi
10/7/2012
Updated:
10/8/2012

Over 50,000 jobs were added in September across the nation, raising the employment rate for a second consecutive month.

According to Statistics Canada, full-time positions accounted for most of the increase, with sectors including retail and wholesale trade; construction; information, culture, and recreation; and agriculture having the highest increases.

Employment among men aged 25 to 54 rose by 21,000 in September, marking the first notable increase since March 2011 and bringing the rate back to its pre-recession peak of October 2008.

Employment among young people aged 15 to 24 and those aged 55 and older did not change significantly.

Between the provinces, Ontario and Manitoba had the highest increases, while Saskatchewan had a decline in its employment rate. The rest of the provinces experienced little change.

Ontario had a 31,000 increase in September, following a decline in employment in August. Manitoba added 6,600 jobs, marking the second consecutive month of employment increase in the province.

Saskatchewan lost 3,600 jobs last month, the first notable loss since November 2011. However, the province still has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

As more people started looking for jobs in September, unemployment across the country went up by 0.1 percent, bringing the national unemployment rate to 7.4 percent.

The employment rate compared to the same time last year went up by 175,000 jobs, or 1 percent, in September.

While Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement that he is “encouraged” by the job gains, Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti pointed out that the unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in September.

“Our economy is sluggish and there is very little prospect on the horizon for real job growth,” Georgetti said in a release responding to Statscan’s Labour Force Survey.

“We have five unemployed workers in this country for every job vacancy. For this situation to improve, the government has to move away from its failed policies.”

Georgetti claims corporations are hoarding billions given to them in tax breaks by Ottawa in the hope that they would use the money to invest in job creation—something he said is undercutting Canada’s ability to create good jobs.

“If corporations refuse to invest the money they have been given in tax breaks, the government should take it back and use it to create strategic infrastructure,” he said.

“They can make valuable investments in urban transit, in social programs such as child care, and in training and apprenticeship programs for workers. That would put our tax money to much better use.”

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