What is the current state of employment in Canada? / Quel est l’état actuel de l’emploi au Canada?

[audreyl]

We just released our new Labour Force Survey data, which reflect Canada’s labour market conditions for the week of November 8 to 14, 2020. Here are a few highlights:

• Employment rose by 62,000 (+0.3%) in November, following an increase of 84,000 (+0.5%) in October. From May to September, employment grew by an average of 2.7% per month.
• The unemployment rate was 8.5% in November, down 0.4 percentage points from a month earlier.
• Employment growth continued to vary across industries in November. Employment fell in the industries most directly affected by public health restrictions, notably accommodation and food services.

For more on these results, check out our new article.

[We are Canada’s national statistical agency. We are here to engage with Canadians and provide them with high-quality statistical information that matters!]

…

Nous venons tout juste de publier les nouvelles données de l’Enquête sur la population active qui rendent compte de la situation du marché du travail pour la semaine allant du 8 au 14 novembre 2020. Voici quelques points saillants :

• L’emploi a progressé de 62 000 (+0,3 %) en novembre, après avoir enregistré une hausse de 84 000 (+0,5 %) en octobre. De mai à septembre, l’emploi a connu une augmentation mensuelle moyenne de 2,7 %.
• Le taux de chômage s’est établi à 8,5 % en novembre, en baisse de 0,4 point de pourcentage par rapport à un mois plus tôt.
• La croissance de l’emploi a continué de varier d’un secteur à l’autre en novembre. L’emploi a reculé dans les secteurs les plus directement touchés par les restrictions en matière de santé publique, plus particulièrement dans les services d’hébergement et de restauration.

Pour en savoir plus sur ces résultats, consultez notre nouvel article.

[Nous sommes l’organisme national de statistique du Canada. Nous sommes ici pour discuter avec les Canadiens et leur fournir des renseignements statistiques de grande qualité qui comptent!]

 

[prav]

@audreyl Does this account for seasonal jobs? It’d explain a lot

 

[audreyl]

@prav Thank you for your question zerocoldx911,

The Labour Force Survey include seasonal jobs. As such, seasonally adjusted estimates are produced with the LFS, which facilitate comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

 

[tpot27]

@audreyl Thanks for the answer, your online presence here is appreciated!

 

[sweetstars]

@audreyl Are you replying to usernames personally as a standard? I feel like that is not the best approach on Reddit, hah. Thanks for sharing the updates!

 

[berean1611]

@prav These stats are almost always seasonally adjusted.

 

[prav]

@berean1611 So they’d have to compare to what the employment rate was of last year which would look pretty bad in comparison

 

[berean1611]

@prav I mean things are pretty bad this year

 

[davcox]

@berean1611 Would be nice to know how bad based on month-to-month

 

[sugiyarto]

@davcox is this a joke? the whole report is month-to-month (with additional context of changes since Feb and year-over-year)?

 

[davcox]

@sugiyarto I didn't look into the link, so I don't know what the report looks like.

 

[jan54]

@davcox Have you considered just not commenting then?

 

[polly%EF%BC%81]

@davcox These reports are done monthly.

 

[giddyg]

@prav I'm always suspicious of these types of statistics.

For example, in the US they only calculate unemployment for people that haven't stopped looking for work!

I'd honestly rather they calculated as

(total hours of work) / (40 per week) / (50 per year) / (number of people over 18 and not registered retirees).

Reported that way, you'd actually be able to follow trends in work in terms of hours per employable capita (a unit I can understand). The problem being, that you'd have to ask companies to report hours of work....

EDIT: thanks all for your helpful pointers.

 

[resjudicata]

@giddyg That’s how they define unemployment here too. That’s why there’s a difference between labour force participation and unemployment.

 

[berean1611]

@giddyg There are actually multiple unemployment numbers that get reported on. I think the R8 number here is closest to what you are describing: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410007701

In the US they also have U1-6, with U3 as the standard unemployment rate and U6 includes discouraged workers and people stuck working part time for economic reasons.