January 2006
Vol. 7, no. 1

• Labour Force Survey
• Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds)
• Economic contribution of non-profit institutions and volunteering
• Survey of Household Spending

Labour Force Survey
In December 2005, there was little overall change in employment as an increase of 36,000 full-time jobs was offset by part-time losses of 38,000. The unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.5% as more people entered the labour market in search of work.

Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds)
The value of the retirement savings of millions of Canadian workers with trusteed pension plans increased in the second quarter of 2005-the ninth consecutive quarterly gain.

Economic contribution of non-profit institutions and volunteering
In 2000, volunteer labour services contributed about $14 billion, or nearly 18% of the total extended value of the non-profit sector's GDP. Between 1997 and 2000, the total extended value of the non-profit sector's GDP grew at the slower pace of 12.9% than standard GDP, at 16.4%, due to a marginal decline in the overall value of volunteer work.

Survey of Household Spending
The one-fifth of Canadian households with the lowest income spent about $21,300 in 2004. Of this, almost 51% went to food, shelter and clothing. Personal income taxes claimed 3.5% of their budget.

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