Labour Force Survey: 2011
year-end review

By Ted Wannell and Jeannine Usalcas

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The labour market continued to recover through most of 2011, but there were signs of weakness towards the end of the year. Employment and aggregate actual hours of work surpassed previous highs, while the employment rate remained below pre-downturn levels.

Employment growth was entirely in full-time jobs, with the greatest absolute employment gains in Alberta (99,000) and Ontario (85,000).

Employment growth was concentrated among prime-age and older workers. Employment fell for youth and youth unemployment remained stubbornly high—ending the year at 14.1%.

Employment grew strongly for landed immigrants who had been in Canada at least 10 years, but their unemployment rate edged up to 7.1% due to higher participation in the labour market. Just the opposite occurred for immigrants who had landed in the previous 5 years: employment fell by 6.0%, but a decreasing participation rate also led to a drop in the unemployment rate.

In 2011, the employment rate among Aboriginal peoples increased by 2.7 percentage points after declining 5.6 percentage points from 2008 to 2010. Employment rates increased for all age groups except for those 55 and over in 2011, with the largest absolute increase among prime-age Aboriginal peoples.

Overall, job growth in the service sector (1.4%) outpaced the goods sector (0.2%), but there were pockets of strength and weakness in each sector.