February 2007
Vol. 8, no. 2

• Labour Force Survey
• Low-income and university attendance
• Low-income rates among immigrants
• Employment Insurance

Labour Force Survey
Employment increased by an estimated 89,000 in January, continuing the upward trend that began in September 2006. January's employment increase was largely driven by growth in the two westernmost provinces. The unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points in January to 6.2%, the result of more people entering the labour force in search of work.

Low-income and university attendance
The gap in university attendance between youth from higher- and lower-income families is largely related to differences in academic performance at age 15 and parental influences, and to a lesser degree financial constraints.

Low-income rates among immigrants
The economic situation of new immigrants to Canada showed no improvement after the turn of the millennium, even though they had much higher levels of education and many more were in the skilled immigrant class than a decade earlier.

Employment Insurance
An estimated 483,980 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits in November, down 0.9% from October. This was the third consecutive monthly decrease, continuing a downward trend that began in mid-2003.

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