Province poised for record setting year in employment

According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, employment in the province continued to move upward with an increase of 2.3 per cent or 4,700 jobs this past November as compared to November 2000. The survey also reported that the unemployment rate stood at 14.7 per cent for the month, a drop of 1.1 percentage points compared to November 2000.

Since the current period of employment growth started in mid-1997, year over year employment gains have been posted in 43 of 54 months. This is the strongest period of growth since the late 1980s. "Labour markets in Newfoundland and Labrador are looking better than ever," said Gerald Smith, Minister of Human Resources and Employment. "While we are aware that we still have employment and economic challenges to overcome, increasing employment indicates we are on the right track in finding solutions to these challenges."

On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment declined by 0.9 per cent while the unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to stand at 16.2 per cent. Seasonally adjusted data looks at patterns of employment change within the current year from one month to the next, whereas the actual data compares employment this year to employment last year. On a year-over-year basis, the provincial employment trend in 2001 has been positive as reflected by the actual data.

In nine of the 11 months to date in 2001, record monthly employment levels have been set. In the current month, the services sector grew by 4.6 per cent with growth concentrated in wholesale and retail trade. Employment declined in the goods sector, primarily due to losses in the fishery.

"We are nearing the end of 2001," said Minister Smith. "It seems apparent that this year we will set a new record in employment with an average of about 211,000, overriding the former high of 207,400 set in 1990."

Media contact: Paul Power, Communications, (709) 729-4062.

2001 12 07                           12:35 p.m.