January 2002
January Questions & Answers and January Graph
by Joel Emes
Q: By how much has employment grown over the past few decades? How many of the new jobs created over this time period are full-time and how many are part-time?
A: Between 1976 and 2001 the number of new jobs grew by over 5 million (5,307,000) from 9,776,000 to an estimated 15,083,000 (54.3 percent). The growth rate for part-time employment has been faster than that for full-time employment, but the vast majority of new jobs are full-time (see table 1). Between 1976 and 2001 the number of part-time jobs grew by about 1.5 million (1,498,000) from 1,228,000 to an estimated 2,726,000 (122 percent). Between 1976 and 2001 the number of full-time jobs grew by about 4 million (3,808,000) from 8,549,000 to an estimated 12,357,000 (44.5 percent). This month's graph shows the year-to-year growth rates in total, full-time, and part-time employment from 1977 to 2001.
Table 1: Total, Full-time, and Part-time Employment Growth in Canada
|
Total |
Full-time |
Part-time |
Percentage of full- |
Percentage of part- |
||||
|
Number |
Year- |
Number |
Year- |
Number |
Year- |
|||
|
1976 |
9,776 |
8,549 |
1,228 |
87.4% |
12.6% |
|||
|
1977 |
9,915 |
139 |
8,614 |
65 |
1,301 |
73 |
86.9% |
13.1% |
|
1978 |
10,212 |
297 |
8,851 |
237 |
1,362 |
61 |
86.7% |
13.3% |
|
1979 |
10,658 |
446 |
9,179 |
328 |
1,479 |
117 |
86.1% |
13.9% |
|
1980 |
10,970 |
312 |
9,388 |
209 |
1,582 |
103 |
85.6% |
14.4% |
|
1981 |
11,297 |
327 |
9,609 |
221 |
1,688 |
106 |
85.1% |
14.9% |
|
1982 |
10,947 |
(350) |
9,189 |
(420) |
1,758 |
70 |
83.9% |
16.1% |
|
1983 |
11,027 |
80 |
9,165 |
(24) |
1,862 |
104 |
83.1% |
16.9% |
|
1984 |
11,300 |
273 |
9,398 |
233 |
1,902 |
40 |
83.2% |
16.8% |
|
1985 |
11,617 |
317 |
9,624 |
226 |
1,994 |
92 |
82.8% |
17.2% |
|
1986 |
11,979 |
362 |
9,938 |
314 |
2,041 |
47 |
83.0% |
17.0% |
|
1987 |
12,321 |
342 |
10,256 |
318 |
2,065 |
24 |
83.2% |
16.8% |
|
1988 |
12,710 |
389 |
10,558 |
302 |
2,153 |
88 |
83.1% |
16.9% |
|
1989 |
12,986 |
276 |
10,809 |
251 |
2,178 |
25 |
83.2% |
16.8% |
|
1990 |
13,084 |
98 |
10,851 |
42 |
2,233 |
55 |
82.9% |
17.1% |
|
1991 |
12,851 |
(233) |
10,505 |
(346) |
2,346 |
113 |
81.7% |
18.3% |
|
1992 |
12,760 |
(91) |
10,377 |
(128) |
2,383 |
37 |
81.3% |
18.7% |
|
1993 |
12,858 |
98 |
10,375 |
(2) |
2,483 |
100 |
80.7% |
19.3% |
|
1994 |
13,112 |
254 |
10,617 |
242 |
2,495 |
12 |
81.0% |
19.0% |
|
1995 |
13,357 |
245 |
10,834 |
217 |
2,523 |
28 |
81.1% |
18.9% |
|
1996 |
13,463 |
106 |
10,883 |
49 |
2,580 |
57 |
80.8% |
19.2% |
|
1997 |
13,774 |
311 |
11,140 |
257 |
2,635 |
55 |
80.9% |
19.1% |
|
1998 |
14,140 |
366 |
11,467 |
327 |
2,674 |
39 |
81.1% |
18.9% |
|
1999 |
14,531 |
391 |
11,849 |
382 |
2,682 |
8 |
81.5% |
18.5% |
|
2000 |
14,910 |
379 |
12,208 |
359 |
2,702 |
20 |
81.9% |
18.1% |
|
2001e |
15,083 |
173 |
12,357 |
149 |
2,726 |
24 |
81.9% |
18.1% |
|
Increase, |
54.3% |
5,307 |
44.5% |
3,808 |
122.0% |
1,498 |
||
|
e = estimate. Sources: See table 2. |
||||||||
Q: How has the ratio of part-time employment to total employment changed over the last few decades?
A: The ratio of part-time to total employment increased in all but four years between 1976 and 1993. With the exception of 1996, the ratio has fallen every year since. Part-time employment represented 12.6 percent of total employment in 1976, 19.3 percent in 1993, and an estimated 18.1 percent in 2001 (see table 1).
Q: How is the unemployment rate calculated? How has the number of employed and unemployed people changed recently?
A: The unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people in the labour force. The information for this calculation is collected monthly by Statistics Canada in a survey of 52,000 Canadian households. The sample for the Labour Force Survey is designed to represent all persons in the population aged 15 and older residing in the provinces excluding those living on Indian reserves, full-time members of the armed forces, or those living in institutions (inmates of penal institutions and patients who have been in hospitals or nursing homes for more than six months). Table 2 shows Canada's labour force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rate for 1976 through 2001. In October 2001 there were 1.187 million (seasonally adjusted) unemployed people in Canada and 16.282 million people (seasonally adjusted) in the labour force, for an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent. This information does not match that in table 2 because the data in the table is an estimated annual average.
Definitions
The labour force is composed of those members of the civilian non-institutional population aged 15 years and older who are employed or unemployed. A person is considered employed if they did any work at all or had a job but were not at work. A person is considered unemployed if they were available for work and actively looked for work in the past four weeks; had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but were on temporary layoff; or had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had a new job starting in less than four weeks.
Table 2: Labour Force, Employment, Unemployment, and the Unemployment Rate
| Labour Force (000's) |
Employed (000's) |
Unemployed (000's) |
Unemployment Rate |
||||
| Number | Year-to-year Growth | Number |
Year- to-year Growth |
Number |
Year- to-year Growth |
||
| 1976 | 10,514 | 9,776 | 738 | 7.0 | |||
| 1977 | 10,774 | 260 | 9,915 | 139 | 860 | 122 | 8.0 |
| 1978 | 11,138 | 364 | 10,212 | 297 | 926 | 66 | 8.3 |
| 1979 | 11,521 | 383 | 10,658 | 446 | 863 | (63) | 7.5 |
| 1980 | 11,860 | 339 | 10,970 | 312 | 890 | 27 | 7.5 |
| 1981 | 12,222 | 362 | 11,297 | 327 | 926 | 36 | 7.6 |
| 1982 | 12,296 | 74 | 10,947 | (350) | 1,349 | 423 | 11.0 |
| 1983 | 12,523 | 227 | 11,027 | 80 | 1,496 | 147 | 11.9 |
| 1984 | 12,739 | 216 | 11,300 | 273 | 1,439 | (57) | 11.3 |
| 1985 | 13,002 | 263 | 11,617 | 317 | 1,385 | (54) | 10.7 |
| 1986 | 13,257 | 255 | 11,979 | 362 | 1,278 | (107) | 9.6 |
| 1987 | 13,512 | 255 | 12,321 | 342 | 1,191 | (87) | 8.8 |
| 1988 | 13,779 | 267 | 12,710 | 389 | 1,068 | (123) | 7.8 |
| 1989 | 14,047 | 268 | 12,986 | 276 | 1,060 | (8) | 7.5 |
| 1990 | 14,241 | 194 | 13,084 | 98 | 1,157 | 97 | 8.1 |
| 1991 | 14,330 | 89 | 12,851 | (233) | 1,480 | 323 | 10.3 |
| 1992 | 14,362 | 32 | 12,760 | (91) | 1,602 | 122 | 11.2 |
| 1993 | 14,505 | 143 | 12,858 | 98 | 1,647 | 45 | 11.4 |
| 1994 | 14,627 | 122 | 13,112 | 254 | 1,515 | (132) | 10.4 |
| 1995 | 14,750 | 123 | 13,357 | 245 | 1,393 | (122) | 9.4 |
| 1996 | 14,900 | 150 | 13,463 | 106 | 1,437 | 44 | 9.6 |
| 1997 | 15,153 | 253 | 13,774 | 311 | 1,379 | (58) | 9.1 |
| 1998 | 15,418 | 265 | 14,140 | 366 | 1,277 | (102) | 8.3 |
| 1999 | 15,721 | 303 | 14,531 | 391 | 1,190 | (87) | 7.6 |
| 2000 | 15,999 | 278 | 14,910 | 379 | 1,090 | (100) | 6.8 |
| 2001e | 16,228 | 229 | 15,083 | 173 | 1,145 | 55 | 7.1 |
|
e = estimate Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Economic Observer Historical Statistical Supplement 2000/01; Statistics Canada, Canadian Economic Observer, November 2001; Statistics Canada, Labour Force Information, November 2, 2001; calculations by the author. |
|||||||
Sources: Table 2. Note: e = estimate
Joel Emes (joele@fraserinstitute.ca) is Senior Research Economist at The Fraser Institute. He has an M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University.
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