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Help-wanted index falls in September
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The Canadian Press-
The Conference Board of Canada's help-wanted index fell 3.3 percentage points in September.
It was the second straight drop in the index, which tracks job growth in the economy, after a fall of 6.1 points in August, and reflected a weakening domestic economy and more job losses.
The two consecutive declines combined to more than wipe out July's gain, which came before stock market turmoil in late summer caused by the European debt crisis and the weakening American and Chinese economies.
The Board estimates the drop in the index works out to the loss of about 3,600 jobs in the Canadian economy.
Also on Wednesday, a second report suggested Canada's 1.4 million unemployed were finding it tougher to land better-paying jobs, particularly in the public sector.
CIBC said its Canadian Employment Quality Index, which measures both the compensation and stability of jobs, sat roughly where it was on the eve of the last recession.
While the economy generated on average 17,000 new jobs a month during the period, that was down from 29,000 a month in the second quarter and 33,000 in the first —and those fewer jobs were generally of lower quality, the report added.
Public sector hiring eases
"The key here will be softer public sector hiring in general, and public sector construction activity in particular — a factor that will limit growth in high-quality construction jobs in the coming 12 months," CIBC economist Benjamin Tal wrote in the report.
The index fell by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter and was down by 1.5 per cent over the past seven months as the Canadian economy was generating fewer jobs which were, on average, of lower quality.
The number of full-time jobs in high-paying industries fell by 0.1 per cent, while the number of jobs in low-paying industries rose by 2.3 per cent, the CIBC said.
"The most notable weakness was in high job quality sectors such as the federal government, heavy and civil engineering construction, telecommunications and computer and related manufacturing," the bank report said.
"Strong job growth in sectors such as machinery manufacturing and professional scientific and technical services helped to limit the damage."
Notable improvements were a 1.2 per cent increase in full-time employment during the past seven months and the fact that paid employment rose by 1.2 per cent compared to a slight 0.1 per cent increase in the number of self-employed people.
The CIBC report noted that Albert and Quebec saw their employment quality improve since last March, while Ontario, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada experienced a decline in overall employment quality.
The reports came a day after the parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, predicted in his latest outlook that growth in Canada's economy will slow, and unemployment will spread in the next few quarters, jumping to eight per cent this year and next.
The current rate is 7.1 per cent.
Statistics Canada issues it jobs report for October on Friday and economists expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged with about 10,000 jobs created.
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