Massive winter storm played havoc in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. as number of hours worked drop dramatically in the Maritimes
For a second consecutive month, the unemployment rate has remained steady coming in at 7.4 per cent for February, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
About 21,000 jobs were lost last month, something Statistics Canada attributed to weakness in part-time work following strong increases in full-time employment over the last five months.
Youth employment down, particularly in B.C.
While the labour market situation for youths was lackluster for much of 2003, there was relatively strong job growth before the holiday season. But this was offset by a decrease of 28,000 jobs in February, leaving the youth employment level at about the same as in August 2003.
Because a large number of youths left the labour force in February, their unemployment rate rose only slightly by 0.2 percentage points to 14.1 per cent. The drop in youth employment was concentrated in British Columbia.
Growth in full-time employment continued for adult women, pushing up overall employment for this group by 20,000 jobs in February. Their unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.8 per cent. Since August 2003, employment among adult women has grown more rapidly (up 2.1 per cent) than among adult men (up 1.0 per cent), whose employment level was little changed in February for the second straight month. The unemployment rate among adult men edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.3 per cent.
Decrease in health care and social assistance jobs
In February, employment fell by an estimated 31,000 in health care and social assistance. Most of the drop came among women in Ontario. Despite this drop, the health care and social assistance sector has been following an upward trend since the summer of 2001.
Weakness in manufacturing continued in February as 12,000 jobs were lost. This leaves manufacturing down 83,000 positions (down 3.5 per cent) since November 2002 when the downward trend began.
Following strong job growth in the past two years, employment has weakened in the construction sector, with cumulative losses of 18,000 jobs in January and February. The loss observed in February was concentrated in Quebec and B.C., while Ontario accounted for all of the decline in January.
Employment in educational services increased by 20,000 in February, spread over a number of provinces. The growth occurred mainly in elementary and secondary education. Despite this increase, employment in educational services has changed little over the past year.
Employment increased by 16,000 in transportation and warehousing in February, almost all in Ontario. This continues the upward trend for this sector that began in the summer of 2003.
Public sector continues to grow
In February a drop of 21,000 self-employed workers and a lsight decrease in the number of employees in the private sector more than offset the increase of 24,000 employees in the public sector. Since August 2003, the number of public-sector employees has grown by 3.1 per cent (92,000 jobs), exceeding the 1.1 per cent (118,000 jobs) in the number of private-sector employees.
As a result of weakness in construction and retail trade in February, the number of self-employed workers has returned to about the same level as August 2003.
Winter storm plays havoc in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
In February employment was little changed in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., but the number of hours worked fell sharply because of the snowstorm. In Nova Scotia, hours worked fell 15.3 per cent while P.E.I.’s decrease was 13.9 per cent. As a result, hours worked at the national level edged down 0.4 per cent.
From the day of the storm on Feb. 18, through the next three days, about half of Nova Scotia’s employees (182,000 people) missed some work as a direct result of the snowstorm. This amounted to nearly 2.5 million hours, or 13.6 hours per absent employee. Similarly, just under half of all P.E.I. employees missed work as a result of the storm (25,000 people), with the decrease in hours worked totaling 346,000, or 14 hours per absent employee. This does not include the time lost during thee cleanup period that continued the following week.
Unemployment rate by jurisdiction
About 21,000 jobs were lost last month, something Statistics Canada attributed to weakness in part-time work following strong increases in full-time employment over the last five months.
Youth employment down, particularly in B.C.
While the labour market situation for youths was lackluster for much of 2003, there was relatively strong job growth before the holiday season. But this was offset by a decrease of 28,000 jobs in February, leaving the youth employment level at about the same as in August 2003.
Because a large number of youths left the labour force in February, their unemployment rate rose only slightly by 0.2 percentage points to 14.1 per cent. The drop in youth employment was concentrated in British Columbia.
Growth in full-time employment continued for adult women, pushing up overall employment for this group by 20,000 jobs in February. Their unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.8 per cent. Since August 2003, employment among adult women has grown more rapidly (up 2.1 per cent) than among adult men (up 1.0 per cent), whose employment level was little changed in February for the second straight month. The unemployment rate among adult men edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.3 per cent.
Decrease in health care and social assistance jobs
In February, employment fell by an estimated 31,000 in health care and social assistance. Most of the drop came among women in Ontario. Despite this drop, the health care and social assistance sector has been following an upward trend since the summer of 2001.
Weakness in manufacturing continued in February as 12,000 jobs were lost. This leaves manufacturing down 83,000 positions (down 3.5 per cent) since November 2002 when the downward trend began.
Following strong job growth in the past two years, employment has weakened in the construction sector, with cumulative losses of 18,000 jobs in January and February. The loss observed in February was concentrated in Quebec and B.C., while Ontario accounted for all of the decline in January.
Employment in educational services increased by 20,000 in February, spread over a number of provinces. The growth occurred mainly in elementary and secondary education. Despite this increase, employment in educational services has changed little over the past year.
Employment increased by 16,000 in transportation and warehousing in February, almost all in Ontario. This continues the upward trend for this sector that began in the summer of 2003.
Public sector continues to grow
In February a drop of 21,000 self-employed workers and a lsight decrease in the number of employees in the private sector more than offset the increase of 24,000 employees in the public sector. Since August 2003, the number of public-sector employees has grown by 3.1 per cent (92,000 jobs), exceeding the 1.1 per cent (118,000 jobs) in the number of private-sector employees.
As a result of weakness in construction and retail trade in February, the number of self-employed workers has returned to about the same level as August 2003.
Winter storm plays havoc in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
In February employment was little changed in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., but the number of hours worked fell sharply because of the snowstorm. In Nova Scotia, hours worked fell 15.3 per cent while P.E.I.’s decrease was 13.9 per cent. As a result, hours worked at the national level edged down 0.4 per cent.
From the day of the storm on Feb. 18, through the next three days, about half of Nova Scotia’s employees (182,000 people) missed some work as a direct result of the snowstorm. This amounted to nearly 2.5 million hours, or 13.6 hours per absent employee. Similarly, just under half of all P.E.I. employees missed work as a result of the storm (25,000 people), with the decrease in hours worked totaling 346,000, or 14 hours per absent employee. This does not include the time lost during thee cleanup period that continued the following week.
Unemployment rate by jurisdiction
| Jurisdiction | January 2004 | February 2004 | % change |
| Canada | 7.4 | 7.4 | 0.0 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 16.5 | 16.5 | 0.0 |
| Prince Edward Island | 10.8 | 11.7 | 0.9 |
| Nova Scotia | 9.7 | 9.4 | -0.3 |
| New Brunswick | 10.4 | 9.5 | -0.9 |
| Quebec | 9.1 | 8.8 | -0.3 |
| Ontario | 6.6 | 6.6 | 0.0 |
| Manitoba | 5.2 | 4.8 | -0.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 5.6 | 5.7 | 0.1 |
| Alberta | 5.0 | 5.2 | 0.2 |
| British Columbia | 7.3 | 7.9 | 0.6 |
