Hiring and Layoff Rates by Economic Region of Residence: Data Quality, Concepts and Methods - ARCHIVED

Every year, thousands of workers lose their jobs as firms reduce the size of their workforce in response to growing competition, technological changes, changing trade patterns and numerous other factors. Thousands of workers also start a job with a new employer as new firms enter a product market and existing firms expand or replace employees who recently left. This worker reallocation process across employers is generally seen as contributing to productivity growth and rising living standards. To measure this labour reallocation process, labour market indicators such as hiring rates and layoff rates are needed. In response to growing demand for subprovincial labour market information and taking advantage of unique administrative datasets, Statistics Canada is producing hiring rates and layoff rates by economic region of residence. This document describes the data sources, conceptual and methodological issues, and other matters pertaining to these two indicators.