The Daily. Friday, November 3, 2000

Labour Force Survey

Employment increased by an estimated 20,000 in October. Despite some weakness in the labour market in the early summer, employment was up 344,000 (+2.3%) from October 1999. The unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.9% in October, as more people participated in the labour market.

More full-time jobs

Full-time employment rose by an estimated 52,000 in October while part-time employment declined by 32,000. Full-time employment growth of 2.6% from October 1999 to October 2000 outpaced the 1.1% increase in part-time employment.

Adult women (those 25 and over) accounted for most of the full-time job gains (+35,000) in October. From October 1999 to October 2000, all of the employment growth of 3.4% among adult women was full-time. Among adult men, full-time employment over the same period increased by only 1.6%.

Note to readers Harmonization with Census occupation concepts has affected the comparability of current Labour Force Survey occupation data through time. The management group was most affected; a portion of those formerly classified as managers are now most likely coded as being in business, finance and administrative and sales and service occupations. Investigations are under way with an eye to improving these series. Results of this work are expected to be available early in 2001.

Part-time employment decreased in October for both adult women (-16,000) and adult men (-11,000).

Adult women's unemployment increased by 12,000; their unemployment rate edged up slightly in October to 6.0%. The adult men's unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5%.

Although youths (15 to 24) saw little change in overall employment in October, they have seen an employment gain since October 1999 of 4.2% or 93,000 jobs, 63,000 of which were full-time. The youth unemployment rate in October edged up 0.2 percentage points to 12.9%.

More private sector employees

In October, private sector employment increased by 21,000 as the addition of 37,000 employees was partially offset by a decline of 16,000 in self-employment. From October 1999 to October 2000, total employment in the private sector increased by 235,000 (+2.0%).

Although public sector employment changed little in October, it has increased by 109,000, or 4.0%, compared with October 1999; most of the job gains have been in hospitals.

Employment up in manufacturing

Manufacturing employment increased by an estimated 23,000 in October. Wood product manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing saw the largest gains compared with October 1999. However, these gains were partially offset by losses in other parts of manufacturing, most notably clothing, leaving overall employment in this industry up just 1.1% from October 1999.

Employment also rose in transportation and warehousing (+12,000) in October, making up for some of the losses that occurred over the summer. Employment in the industry was up 22,000 (+3.0%) compared with October 1999.

In October, employment in professional, scientific and technical services continued to rise (+15,000). From October 1999 to October 2000, employment in this industry grew by 65,000 (+7.2%).

Employment declined in construction (-19,000) in October. After robust gains in late 1999, employment in this industry was at about the same level as the start of 2000.

Provincial summary

In Ontario, the upward employment trend that began more than three years ago continued (+27,000). October's increase brings job gains over the previous 12 months to 183,000 (+3.2%). Compared with October 1999, several service-producing industries, as well as manufacturing and construction, saw growth.

Employment rose by 3,000 in Saskatchewan, with gains broadly based in service-producing industries. With October's increase, employment in the province was at about the same level as in October 1999.

In Alberta, employment edged up 8,000, bringing gains from October 1999 to October 2000 to 38,000 (+2.4%). The largest increase over this period was in oil and gas extraction.

In October, employment declined by an estimated 20,000 in Quebec, mostly among adult men. After robust growth in the second half of 1999, overall employment in the province has been stable since the start of 2000. In October, the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 8.5%.

Employment also decreased in Prince Edward Island (-1,200), offsetting an increase in September. Despite the October decline, employment in the province was up 3.4% from October 1999. Unemployment rose by 1,700 in October, pushing the unemployment rate up 2.2 percentage points to 13.5%.

Employment and unemployment changed little in the other provinces in October.

Available on CANSIM: matrices 3450-3471, 3483-3492, 3503 and table 00799999.

Available at 7 a.m. on Statistics Canada's Web site (www.statcan.ca), on the Daily news page.

A more detailed summary, Labour force information, is available today (71-001-PIB, $8/$78; 71-001-PPB, $11/$103).

The next release of the Labour Force Survey will be on Friday, December 1.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750) or Jacques Ouellet (613-951-4168), 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