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The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance
Employment rates, by selected countries
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Canada's employment rate continues to top other countries
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In 2007, Canada had the highest employment rate of the 10 countries examined. This is the fourth year in a row that Canada has ranked highest among these countries. From 1997 to 2007, Canada's employment rate increased 4.6 percentage points, similar to increases in Sweden, Australia and Italy. Germany, the United Kingdom and France all saw rises of 1 to 3 percentage points. However, employment rates fell in Japan (–3.4 percentage points) and the United States (–0.8 point) during this period.
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The Netherlands saw the biggest increase in its employment rate from 1997 to 2007, 6.1 percentage points, as employment growth of 17% far outpaced growth in the working-age population of 5.9%. Canada posted healthy employment gains of 23% and substantial population growth of 14.3% during this 10-year period.
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For the past five years, a higher proportion of women were working in Canada than in any of these countries, reaching an employment rate of 59.7% in 2007. Sweden (57.3%), Netherlands (56.8%), the United States (56.6%) and Australia (56.2%) followed. For men, rates were highest in the Netherlands (71.0%), Australia (70.2%) and Japan (70.0%).
Chart P.5
Employment rates, by selected countries,
1997 and 2007
1. The employment rate for Germany is for 2006 versus 2007.
Note: Data have been adjusted to approximate U.S. measurement concepts.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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