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Long-term unemployment among 25 to 54 year-olds in Canada and the U.S.

In 2007, the unemployment rate for Canadians aged 25 to 54 (considered 'core age' by labour analysts) stood at 5.1%. Among the unemployed, 7.7% had been looking for a job for at least a year—the standard definition of 'long term unemployment.' This was a drop from 12.2% in 2000, according to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey estimates and the OECD.

The opposite trend was observed in the United States, where long-term unemployment among 25 to 54 year-olds increased to 11.1% from 6.6% over the same period. The highest incidence (14.2%) of long-term unemployment among this group occurred in 2004.

Incidence of long-term unemployment1 among 25 to 54 year-olds in Canada and the U.S.

Chart: Incidence of long-term unemployment among 25 to 54 year-olds in Canada and the U.S.

The overall unemployment rate and the incidence of long-term unemployment can be strongly correlated, but with a lag between a change in unemployment and its effect on long-term unemployment.

In Canada, for example, the overall unemployment trend from 1999 to 2006 was largely reflected in the long-term unemployment trend from 2000 to 2007 among the core working-age population.

 

Table: Long-term unemployment among 25 to 54 year-olds in Canada and the U.S. Opens a new browser window.

Table
Long-term unemployment1 among 25 to 54 year-olds in Canada and the U.S.


Related to this topic:

"Sidelined in the labour market," Perspectives on Labour and Income, Statistics Canada, April 2004.

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