Manitoba

The employment rate in Manitoba pauses at a high rate

• Following slow but steady increases in employment rates in recent years, Manitoba's rate paused in 2003 at 65.5%—second only to Alberta. Since the most recent upward trend in employment began in 1997, the number of jobs has grown by an average of 1.4% per year.
• It was a mixed year for Manitoba in terms of employment, which barely grew (+0.3%) from 2002 to 2003. Accommodation and food services and'other services' had the largest gains. However, these gains were offset by a decline in trade, as well as by other losses that were spread out over a variety of other sectors.
• Manitoba's unemployment rate has consistently been below or equal to the national rate. In 2003, the unemployment rate for the province dropped 0.2 percentage point to 5.0%. The provincial participation rate remained fairly steady at a near-record high of 69.0%, 1.5 points above the national average.

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