Employment rates, by selected countries

Canada has the highest employment rate

• In 2003, Canada had the highest employment rate of the 10 countries examined. This is the first time Canada has ranked tops among these countries since international comparisons were first compiled in 1960. From 1996 to 2003, Canada's employment rate increased almost 4 percentage points. France, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom all saw rises of 2 to 3 percentage points. However, employment rates fell in Japan (-3.8 percentage points), Germany (-1.1 points) and the United States (-0.9 point) during this period.
• The Netherlands saw the highest increase in the employment rate from 1996 to 2003, 6.4 percentage points, as employment growth of 17% far outpaced working-age population growth of 4.6%. Canada posted healthy employment growth of 17% and substantial population growth of 10% during this seven-year period.
• Canadian women reached a historic high in their employment rate in 2003, 57.7%, which was also a first-place ranking among the 10 countries. Sweden (57.2%), the United States (56.1%), the Netherlands (54.0%), Australia (53.6%) and the United Kingdom (53.2%) followed. For men, rates were highest in the Netherlands (70.5%), Japan (69.9%), the United States (68.9%), Canada (68.5%), Australia (68.1%) and the United Kingdom (66.9%).

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