2002 - A good year in the labour market
Geoff
Bowlby
- From January to December 2002, employment jumped
560,000 (3.7%). At the end of the year, the proportion
of the working age-population employed was 62.4%, the
highest on record.
- In 2002, the unemployment rate fell half a point
to 7.5%. Had it not been for a large jump in labour
market participation, the rate would have dropped more.
At the end of the year, the participation rate hit 67.5%,
up a full point for the year, tying the high of January
1990.
- Firms in most industries were hiring in 2002, but
the largest gain came in manufacturing where the ranks
of the employed jumped 125,000 (5.6%).
- The resurgence of manufacturing in Canada, combined
with the boom in home construction, led to an increase
of 211,000 (3.1%) in employment among adult men. While
manufacturing accounted for a large portion of the 244,000
(4.2%) newly employed adult women, more significant
gains for this group were made in health care and social
assistance, as well as in education.
- Youth employment expanded 104,000 (4.5%) in 2002,
in part because of the greater availability of part-time
jobs. Overall, part-time work increased by a considerable
223,000 (8.1%).
- Employment increased in almost every province, but
two-thirds of the gain was in Ontario and Quebec.
Author
Geoff Bowlby is with the Labour Statistics Division. He can be reached at (613) 951-3325 or perspectives@statcan.gc.ca.
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