Study: Youth and the labour market

The labour market for young Canadians aged 15 to 24 has rebounded sharply from a 21-year low in 1997 thanks to a stronger economy, according to a study published today in Perspectives on Labour and Income.

The recession at the beginning of the 1990s had a lasting effect on the youth labour market. By 1997, the employment and participation rates for this age group were at their lowest point since the mid-1970s.

Since then, employment among these young people has grown at a fast pace, even faster than among adult workers. Between 1997 and 2004, job creation among youth rose 21.1%, the equivalent of 428,000 new jobs. This compares with a growth rate of just 15.8% among adults aged 25 and over.

As a result, the unemployment rate among young people fell from 16.3% in 1997 to 13.4% in 2004. At the same time, the proportion participating in the labour force increased from a record low of 61.5% to 67.0%. And the employment rate increased 7 percentage points, from 51.5% in 1997 to 58.1% in 2004. Although a large increase, this employment rate still does not match the 63.3% peak reached in 1989.

In particular, the strong economy has benefited young women, whose job gains have outstripped those of young men, breaking a long-standing trend. During periods of economic growth, young men have historically had higher rates of employment than young women.

Of the 428,000 new jobs, young women captured 240,000, which was a 24.7% gain from 1997, compared with 188,000 for young men, a 17.7% gain. Also, employment growth was proportionately stronger for teens aged 15 to 19 than for older youth aged 20 to 24.

Among teenagers, both sexes have had similar employment rates since the 1980s. However, during the late 1990s a gap emerged, and in 2004, the employment rate for girls was 46.1%, well above the 43.3% for boys.

The retail trade sector, the largest employer of teenagers, was the driving force behind new jobs for teenagers. Between 1997 and 2004, employment among teens grew by 192,000, with half of this growth (97,000) in retail trade.

A distant second was the accommodation and food services sector, where 61,000 new jobs were added. In both sectors, more jobs went to girls than boys. That is because more women tend to take jobs as cashiers, salespeople or servers in food and beverage outlets. These were the occupations with above-average growth rates during this eight-year period.

Among young adults aged 20 to 24, employment rose 18%, the equivalent of 236,000 jobs. Women again got more jobs than men.

Growth in this age group was spread across several industries. For young women, it occurred mainly in health care and social assistance, and in information, culture and recreation and educational services. For young men, the growth sectors were construction; business, building and other support services; and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3701.

The article "Youth and the labour market" is available in the November online edition of Perspectives on Labour and Income, Vol. 6, no. 11 (75-001-XIE, $6/$52), which is now available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Jeannine Usalcas (613-951-4720; jeannine.usalcas@statcan.gc.ca), Labour Statistics Division.