Province boasts employment gains for sixth consecutive month; posed for record setting year

Newfoundland and Labrador boasted the strongest employment gains of any province for the first six months of 2001 as compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date employment growth stands at 3.0 per cent, double the national average of 1.5 per cent.

"It is turning out to be a record setting year for Newfoundland and Labrador," said Gerald Smith, Minister of Human Resources and Employment. "If current trends continue, we expect to set a new record employment level in 2001, exceeding the 1990 record of 207,400."

According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, employment in the province increased by 5.3 per cent last month as compared to June 2000. This allowed employment growth in the second quarter to average 4.5 per cent, the strongest quarterly performance since 1999.

Strong employment growth also allowed the unemployment rate to drop to 17.6 per cent on a year to date basis, down 0.4 percentage points from the same time last year.

Statistics Canada also indicated that while seasonally adjusted employment in June was relatively the same as last month, gains to date in 2001 total 12,000 jobs or an increase of 5.7 per cent. This strong employment growth pushed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 15.2 per cent in June, down 2.5 percentage points from the start of the year.

"So far, 2001 has been a very positive year for the province," said Gerald Smith, Minister of Human Resources and Employment. "Not only have we made solid and increasing gains in employment every month, but these gains have been in a broad range of industries, indicating an increasingly diversified and stronger labour market."

Gains were broadly based in the goods and services sectors. Significant gains were made in manufacturing, health care and social assistance, professional, scientific and technical services, and management services.

"The employment numbers we have recorded over the past six months are very encouraging," said Minister Smith. "We also expect that potential major project development in the oil and mining industries will lead to further employment gains in the future. This government has made a strong commitment to aggressively pursuing its jobs and growth agenda and these figures indicate this strategy is working. Good news such as this should further inspire confidence in our economic future and encourage all of us, government and stakeholders alike, to think optimistically."

Media contact: Paul Power, Communications, (709) 729-6156.

2001 07 06                  3:35 p.m.