Changes in Job Tenure and Job Stability in Canada - ARCHIVED

Using monthly data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey the author investigates changes in the complete lengths of new job spells from 1981 through 1994. While the average complete length of new jobs did not increase or decrease over the period, changes in the distribution of complete job lengths suggest that there is an increase in the proportion of short-term jobs and a decrease in the proportion of medium term jobs created over the period. The proportion of long-term jobs remained unchanged. This pattern of change was found among all virtually all demographic subgroups examined suggesting that an economy wide (rather than a sectoral or demographic) explanation must be sought.