January 20, 2010

By the Numbers

Construction employment across the country shows signs of life

The labour market in Canada returned to a state without growth in December, but construction employment showed signs of recovery.

Statistics Canada reported that total employment in Canada declined by 2,600 workers in December to 16,871,300 workers.

The unemployment rate remained the same at 8.5 per cent.

In the last nine months, employment has stabilized, but remains 323,000 (1.9 per cent) below the October 2008 peak.

“In recent months, a number of industries have contributed to the stabilization in employment,” said the report.

“A notable shift has occurred in construction, which had been on a downward trend and is up 30,000 since March.”

In Alberta, employment rose by 14,000 in December, which is a similar increase as November.

“The recovery seems to be coming, but Albertans are still hurting and the provincial labour market is still very fragile,” said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Since March 2009, employment in the province has stabilized with an increase of 0.3 percent.

This figure is far better than the pronounced decline of 2.4 per cent observed since the employment peak in October 2008.

Since this peak, the construction sector has lost 17,100 jobs.

In British Columbia, employment declined slightly by 700 workers to 2.266 million workers.

Construction employment in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region decreased by 2.1 per cent or 2,300 persons to 105,800 persons in December.

“Construction employment in December declined more than the normal amount at this time of year,” said Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.

“This is the fourth consecutive month of regional construction employment declines and the key concern is whether the downward trend will continue.”

In 2009, construction employment in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region fell by 11.6 per cent, which is the largest decline since records began in 1995.

However, residential construction is on the upswing and public sector building construction should be turning up due to federal stimulus measures.

JOC News Service

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