Employment up, unemployment down in April

Newfoundland and Labrador continued to make gains in employment in April, according to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada.

Employment increased 3.2 per cent, or approximately 6,400 jobs last month as compared to the same time period last year. Along with the employment increase came a decrease in the unemployment rate which dropped 2.3 percentage points to 17.7 per cent as compared to April 2001.

"This latest increase in employment along with a decrease in the unemployment rate is great news for the province," said Ralph Wiseman, Minister of Human Resources and Employment. "We have experienced an increase in employment every month this year, and we expect this positive trend to continue."

On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment also increased by 1.4 per cent while the unemployment rate decreased 1.3 percentage points to stand at 15.3 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 an industry basis, employment gains were widespread, and concentrated in primary fishing, manufacturing, educational services, and tourism-related industries such as food and accommodations services, and information, culture and recreational services.

Media contact: Simon Lono, Communications, (709) 729-4062.

2002 05 10                             12:30 p.m.