The Daily. Friday, September 7, 2001

Labour Force Survey

Employment edged down (-8,000) in August, the third consecutive month of small declines. This brings job losses since May to 35,000.

The small drop in employment combined with an increase in labour force participation pushed the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points in August to 7.2%.

Labour market continues to weaken for women and youth

Among adult women, full-time employment increased by 34,000 while part-time employment fell by 32,000, leaving overall employment almost unchanged. An increase in labour force participation pushed their unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 6.2%. Employment among adult women is down 23,000 since May.

Employment among youth (15 to 24) changed little in August, but was down 27,000 since May. In August, their unemployment rate increased 0.3 percentage points to 12.7%.

While employment among adult men aged 25 and over, also changed little in August, gains since May total 15,000. In August, their unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%.

In August, full-time employment rose by 41,000 while part-time fell by 49,000. The increase in August brings full-time employment up 31,000 over the last three months. Over the same period, losses in part-time employment total 66,000.

Summer labour market for students similar to a year ago

From May to August, the Labour Force Survey collects data on young people aged 15 to 24 who were attending school full-time in March and intend to return to school full-time in the fall. The published estimates are not seasonally adjusted, and therefore comparisons can only be made on a year-over-year basis. The labour market summary of students for the summer of 2001 is based on the average of three peak months for student employment, that is, June, July and August.

Overall, the 2001 summer labour market for students was similar to the year before. This summer, the average employment rate at 53.5%, was virtually unchanged (+ 0.1 percentage points) from the summer of 2000 and the unemployment rate remained at 13.6%. On average, the proportion of employed students with full-time jobs was 47.1%, up slightly from a year ago (+0.3 percentage points).

Among students aged 20 to 24, the average employment rate increased slightly by 0.4 % to 70.0%, while their unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 7.0%.

Among teenage students (15 to 19), the average employment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points to 47.5%. The average unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 16.8%; this was due to an increase in labour force participation.

Continued job losses in professional, scientific and technical services

Employment declines over the last three months were concentrated in service-producing industries with losses totalling 37,000. Employment in goods-producing industries was virtually unchanged over the same period.

In August, employment in professional, scientific and technical services fell by 18,000. This is the third decline in the last four months and brings losses over this period to 66,000. The drop in August was concentrated in architecture and engineering services.

Employment in trade fell by 21,000 in August following four consecutive monthly gains totalling 53,000. The decline was mostly in Quebec and Ontario.

Employment in health care and social assistance increased by 19,000 in August, offsetting most of the losses over the previous four months (-23,000).

In August, employment in public administration edged up 13,000, following a decrease of 17,000 in July. So far this year, employment in public administrations remains virtually unchanged.

Number of private sector employees edged down

The number of private sector employees edged down by 21,000 in August, bringing losses over the last three months to 36,000. These recent declines leave gains since the start of the year at 79,000.

The number of self-employed workers was unchanged in August. So far this year, self-employment has fallen by 55,000.

Despite a slight increase in August, the number of public sector employees is down 17,000 since the start of the year.

British Columbia and Ontario account for most of the recent job losses

In August, employment fell by 20,000 in British Columbia, bringing losses over the last three months to 39,000. The unemployment rate increased 0.7 percentage points in August to 7.9%.

In Ontario, employment changed little as an increase in full-time (+24,000) was offset by a decline in part-time jobs. Since May, employment is down 17,000. An increase in the number of job seekers pushed the unemployment rate up from 6.3% in July to 6.6% in August.

Employment edged up by an estimated 10,000 in Quebec as an increase in full-time (+18,000) was accompanied by a decline in part-time jobs. An increase in labour force participation pushed the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 8.4%. Over the last three months, employment gains in the province total 13,000.

In Saskatchewan, employment increased by 4,000 in August, bringing gains over the last three months to 7,000. Prior to these recent gains, employment in the province had shown a downward trend since March 2000. In August, the unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 5.2%.

In Newfoundland, employment grew by 3,000 in August, partly offsetting the 6,000 drop observed in July. Employment in that province is up 9,000 since the start of the year. The increase in employment in August was accompanied by a rise in the number of job seekers, and as a result, the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 15.9%.

Employment changed little in other provinces in August.

Available on CANSIM: tables 2790001-2790023 and matrices 3450-3471 , 3483-3492 and 3503 .

As of September 17, Daily releases will refer only to CANSIM II table numbers. CANSIM II contains more than 2 million data time series depicting economic and social conditions in Canada. Data are updated on the day that new values for these series are released. Real-time access to CANSIM II is available on Statistics Canada's Web site () from the Our products and services page. For more information, contact Louis Boucher (613-951-8906; louis.boucher@statcan.gc.ca).

The latest LFS findings are made available at 7:00 a.m. on Statistics Canada's Web site (). From the home page, choose Today's news releases from The Daily, then Latest LFS.

A more detailed summary, Labour force information for the week ending August 18, 2001 (71-001-PPB, $11/$103; 71-001-PIB, $8/$78) is now available. The next release of the Labour Force Survey will be on Friday October 5, 2001.

To order data, or for general information, contact the Client Services Unit (1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; labour@statcan.gc.ca). For analytical information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750) or Martin Tabi (613-951-5269), Labour Statistics Division.

Labour force characteristics for both sexes, aged 15 and over

Labour force characteristics for both sexes, aged 15 and over

Employment by industry (based on NAICS) and class of worker for both sexes, aged 15 and over

Employment by type of work, age and sex, seasonally adjusted