Posted: Friday, 4 June 2010

OTTAWA – Canada’s economy is creating full-time jobs but not quickly enough to get us back to where we were 18 months ago, says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

“There were full-time jobs created in May but let’s remember that we have 176,000 fewer full time jobs now than we had back in October 2008. Unemployment remains a serious problem.”

Georgetti was commenting on the release by Statistics Canada of its Labour Force Survey for May 2010. The unemployment rate remains unchanged from that of April, at 8.1%. There were 1,506,400 unemployed Canadians in May, a slight increase from April, and a number well above the 1,137,400 who were unemployed in October 2008.

“The leaders of the G8 and G20 countries will meet in Canada later in June and we in the labour movement will tell them that the creation of good, family supporting jobs remains a high priority,” Georgetti says. “The unemployed, their families and communities have really suffered as a result of the financial and economic crisis.”

Quick Analysis from CLC Senior Economist Sylvain Schetagne

The performance of the labour market in May 2010 was fairly positive. The number of full-time jobs in Canada was up (+67,300), but that number is still below full-time employment in October 2008 (-176,100). The number of part-time jobs, many of which were involuntary, was down in May (-42,500). Fully 19.1% of all Canadian workers are part-timers, a proportion higher than that in October 2008 (18.6%).

The number of Canadians looking for jobs in May 2010 jumped by 32,700, but only 24,700 of those people were able to find a job. The actual number of unemployed increased by 8,100, leaving the unemployment rate in May 2010 unchanged from that of April, at 8.1%. There were 1,506,400 unemployed Canadians last month compared to 1,137,400 in October 2008, an increase of 32.4%.

In May, 37,800 men 25 years and older entered or came back into the labour market, but only 5,200 of them found a job. The number of men 25 and over unemployed last month increased by 32,600, and their unemployment rate jumped from 7.2% to 7.6%. This occurred for several reasons: The exhausting of employment insurance benefits, an increased hope for a job as a result of some of the positive economic news reported in the media, and the stagnation or decrease in May 2010 in the number of jobs in some of traditional sectors where men 25 and over work. These include construction, manufacturing and mining, oil and gas.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca

Contacts:
Sylvain Schetagne, CLC Senior Economist: 613-526-7412
Dennis Gruending, CLC Communications: 613-526-7431 or Mobile 613-878-6040