May 7, 1999
(Human Resources and Employment)

Year over year employment growth continues

Human Resources and Employment Minister Julie Bettney said it is encouraging to see year-over-year growth in employment continue for the province.

"The employment picture for the province is steadily improving. We had 4,600 more people working in the province in April than we did a year ago," said Minister Bettney. "In 24 of the last 28 months, the province has recorded a year-over-year gain in employment. We are hopeful this trend will continue." The minister also noted that the social assistance caseload is down by 4.8 per cent over this time last year.

Employment on a year-to-date basis has also shown strong growth. For the January to April period, employment was 4.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. This was one of the strongest growth rates recorded among the provinces. Only New Brunswick was higher at 5.2 per cent.

The minister noted that despite the growth in employment, increased labour force participation caused a 1.3 percentage points year-over-year increase in the unemployment rate. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage points to 18.5 per cent in April from 17.6 per cent in March. For the first four months of 1999, however, the unemployment rate averaged 18.6 per cent, a decline of 0.4 points from the same period last year and the lowest for that period since 1990.

"The growth in our labour force has been the strongest of any province this year," said Minister Bettney. "While this translates into a higher unemployment rate, it also shows increased optimism on the part of people seeking work."

Media contact: Lynn Evans, Communications, (709) 729-5611.

1999 05 07 4:30 p.m.