Employment in Canada up in April: Statistics Canada

Following two months of little change, employment rose by 58,000 in April, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for April 2011.

The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.6 percent. Compared with April 2010, employment has grown by 283,000 (up 1.7 percent).

The largest employment gains in April were in the service sector, led by finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (up 19,000), and business, building and other support services (up 17,000). In the goods sector, employment in natural resources increased by 6,600.

Employment was essentially unchanged in the other industries, including manufacturing and construction, which remained flat in April. Over the past 12 months, however, these industries had employment gains of 3.3 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

Despite little change over the last few months, the fastest employment growth since April 2010 was in transportation and warehousing (up 7.7 percent). The second fastest year-over-year growth was in health care and social assistance (up 3.6 percent), continuing its long-term upward trend.

Employment in Ontario rose by 55,000 in April, driven by gains in part-time employment (up 46,000). As a result, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9 percent, its lowest level since December 2008. Despite April’s part-time gain, Ontario’s employment growth of 157,000 (up 2.4 percent) over the past 12 months was all in full-time.

Newfoundland and Labrador was the only other province with a notable employment gain in April, up 3,100. Over the past 12 months, the number of workers rose by 15,000 or 6.9 percent, the fastest rate of growth of all provinces. In April, the unemployment rate fell by 1.3 percentage points to 11.1 percent, its lowest rate since 1976, when comparable data became available.

In April, employment fell by 5,500 in Nova Scotia and by 3,300 in Manitoba. In Quebec, employment was unchanged in April, and the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment in the province was up 1.2 percent (up 46,000). There was little change in the remaining provinces.

The number of employees rose in both the private and public sectors in April. Over the past 12 months, employment in the public sector has grown by 2.8 percent compared with 1.6 percent in the private sector, while self-employment was little changed.

Employment in part-time increased by 41,000 in April, and it edged up in full-time. Over the past 12 months, full-time employment has grown by 1.9 percent compared with 0.8 percent in part-time.

www.statcan.gc.ca