Employment numbers resume upward trend

Human Resources and Employment Minister Julie Bettney was pleased by the September Labour Force Survey report released this morning by Statistics Canada which showed a turnaround in the province's labour markets from last month's survey.

"Seasonally adjusted employment numbers have resumed the upward trend that has been in evidence for more than a year, rising by 4,200 jobs, or 2.2 per cent in September compared to August," said the minister. "The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage points, while the seasonally adjusted employment rate rose by a full percentage point between August and September. This is a larger employment rate improvement than in any other province and more than triple the improvement recorded at the national level."

Year over year job growth was also recorded with an increase of 0.6 per cent or 1,300 more jobs in September 1998 compared to September 1997. "We are continuing to move in the right direction with employment up by 2.9 per cent on average during the first nine months of the year," noted the minister.

Minister Bettney said that she is encouraged by the fact that 4,400 people actually re-entered the labour force this September in search of work. "This reflects the increased confidence in the economic growth of Newfoundland and Labrador."

"However, the 4,400 increase in the number of job seekers offset any beneficial impact that higher employment might have had on the unemployment rate which went up by one percentage point over last September," said the minister. "At the same time, the year-over-year employment rate did increase, by almost a full percentage point."

Unlike the unemployment rate which is influenced not just by employment gains, but also by the number of working age people who are actively participating in the labour force, the employment rate looks at the entire working age population, and measures employment as a percentage of that total.

"The ongoing strike in the newsprint industry continues to be a factor restraining higher employment growth," said Minister Bettney. "Employment in the crab processing sector was about 3,000 less this September than it was in September of last year. These two factors alone were sufficient to reduce our employment gains by more than 3,000 this year. The service sector continued to make a major contribution to employment growth which more than offset losses in fish processing."

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