After a pause in January, employment resumed its upward trend with an increase of 55,000 in February. Since the start of 2002, when employment began to pick up steam, job gains total 613,000 (+4.1%). Even with the increase in employment, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.4% in February, the result of more labour force participation.

More full-time and part-time jobs

The upward trend in full-time employment continued in February with an increase of 28,000, bringing gains over the last fourteen months to 409,000 (+3.3%). Part-time employment also increased by 28,000 in February, erasing most of the decline in the previous month. Since the start of 2002, there has been strong growth in the number of part-time jobs with gains totalling 204,000 (+7.4%).

In February, employment among youth 15 to 24 rose by 30,000, mostly full-time. This increase more than offset the decline in January and pushed the youth unemployment rate down to 13.2% (-0.5 percentage points). A large share of the youth employment gains in February was among 15 to 19 year-old students in Ontario.

There was also added employment in February among adults. For adult women, the increase was 15,000, all in part-time jobs whereas among adult men there was a slight gain of 10,000, nearly all full-time. The unemployment rate among adult women was unchanged at 6.1% while for adult men, the rate edged up 0.1 to 6.4%, as more men aged 25 and over joined the labour force in search of work.

Manufacturing employment picks up in February

Factory employment rose by 21,000 with gains spread across most provinces. The largest increases were in wood and furniture production as well as food processing. Manufacturing employment was a pillar of strength over the first eight months of 2002, however it weakened in the latter part of the year.

Employment in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing continued to advance with an increase of 20,000 bringing gains since the start of 2002 to 60,000 (+6.9%). Employment growth in this industry has been spurred by robust construction activity. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recently reported that 2002 ended on a high note, posting the highest level of housing starts since 1989. Although employment in construction was little changed for the second consecutive month, job gains since the start of 2002 have been very strong totalling 54,000 (+6.4%).

Employment in health care and social assistance rose by 17,000 with several provinces sharing the increase. This brings job gains in the industry since the start of 2002 to 108,000 (+6.9%).

In February, employment edged up 10,000 in public administration, mostly in local government. This increase leaves employment in public administration up 14,000 (+1.8%) from a year ago.

Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 12,000 in February, offsetting the gain in January. Despite this decline, employment in the industry is up 30,000 (+4.1%) since March 2002.

More private sector employees

In February, employment rose in the private sector with a gain of 26,000 employees while self-employment edged up 14,000. The number of public sector employees also edged up (+16,000). All three groups have shown job strength since the start of 2002 with gains of 3.6% for private sector employees, 4.5% among the self-employed and 5.3% among public sector employees.

Continued employment strength in Ontario

Employment increased by 28,000 in Ontario, continuing the upward trend that began in the second half of 2002. The gains in February were among youths, mostly students aged 15 to 19, and adult women. By industry, the largest increases were in professional, scientific and technical services, public administration as well as trade. These increases were only partly offset by a decline in education services. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%.

Following strong job growth over 2002, employment in Quebec was little changed for the second consecutive month. In February, there were 19,000 more people working part-time while full-time employment edged down 10,000. The unemployment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points to 8.6% as more people entered the labour force in search of work.

Employment rose by 12,000 in British Columbia, all in full-time. This increase offsets declines over the previous five months leaving employment in the province at about the same level as last August. Job gains in February were mainly in manufacturing, health care and social assistance as well as public administration (mostly federal and local government). Even though there were added jobs in the province, the unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 8.2%, the result of an increase in labour force participation.

Employment in Alberta edged up slightly as an increase in full-time employment (+8,000) was partly offset by a decline in part-time (-4,000) work. This leaves employment in the province up 59,000 (+3.6%) since the start of 2002.

There was little change in employment for the other provinces.