The Canadian Labour Congress says it’s time to put jobs – good jobs – back on the country’s political agenda. It’s time for a Canada-wide conversation about jobs – the good jobs we need, the jobs we can save and how to move our economy forward.
“Laissez-faire isn’t working,” says CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “Month after month we see the same disappointing evidence from Statistics Canada. Private sector employment isn’t keeping up with labour force growth. Over the past year, part-time jobs grew at triple the rate of full-time jobs. And young people continue to struggle with an unemployment rate that’s double the national rate and a part‑time rate approaching 50%.”
According to Yussuff, the problem is a lack of leadership from the federal government. There is no vision of an economy that provides people with the opportunity to work productively, to earn a living and to build a future. Canadians, he says, can do better – they want to do better.
“We need a real economic action plan, one that’s about creating jobs and giving young people the means to build a future,” says Yussuff.
Quick analysis from Senior Economist Angella MacEwen
Employment was little changed in November, as the number of jobs lost (10,700) falls well within the standard error of the change in employment (28,900).
Year over year the number of jobs added to the labour market amounted to less than 1% of total employment, and were not enough to keep up with population growth. The number of self-employed workers, a notoriously precarious sector, grew at double the rate of employees. The number of temporary positions grew at triple the rate of permanent positions. Finally, part-time jobs grew at three times the rate of full-time jobs, contributing to stagnation in the total number of hours worked over the past year.
The bulk of employment gains have come from two sectors over the past year: Health Care and Social Assistance (62,300), and Accommodation and Food Services (58,300). The average weekly wage for Health Care and Social Assistance was $857.81, and for Accommodation and Food
Services it is $423.16.
So while some of Canada’s job growth appears to be in middle income stable jobs, many are in low wage, part time, and less secure positions.
