MONTREAL – Canada’s 1.4 million unemployed were finding it tougher to land better-paying jobs, particularly in the public sector, as the pace of job growth in Canada appeared to slow during the third quarter, according to employment reports released Wednesday.
CIBC said its Canadian Employment Quality Index, which measures both the compensation and stability of jobs, sat roughly where it was on the eve of the last recession. While the economy generated on average 17,000 new jobs a month during the period, that was down from 29,000 a month in the second quarter and 33,000 in the first – and those fewer jobs were generally of lower quality, the report added.
“The key here will be softer public sector hiring in general, and public sector construction activity in particular – a factor that will limit growth in high-quality construction jobs in the coming 12 months,” CIBC economist Benjamin Tal wrote in the report.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board of Canada’s help-wanted index, which tracks job growth in the economy, fell for the second straight month in September, dropping 3.3 percentage points after falling 6.1 points in August. The two consecutive declines combined to more than wipe out a gain in July before stock market turmoil in late summer caused by the European debt crisis and the weakening American and Chinese economies. The Ottawa-based think tank said that points to the loss of about 3,600 jobs in the Canadian economy in October.
Markets will get another read on job creation during the period when Statistics Canada issues its jobs report for October on Friday. Economists expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 7.1 per cent for the month with about 10,000 new jobs created.
With the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick, all provincial indexes posted declines in September, the Conference Board said.
The CIBC report said its Employment Quality Index fell by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter and was down by 1.5 per cent over the past seven months as the Canadian economy was generating fewer jobs which were, on average, of lower quality. The number of full-time jobs in high-paying industries fell by 0.1 per cent, while the number of jobs in low-paying industries rose by 2.3 per cent, the CIBC said.
“The most notable weakness was in high job quality sectors such as the federal government, heavy and civil engineering construction, telecommunications and computer and related manufacturing,” the bank report said.
“Strong job growth in sectors such as machinery manufacturing and professional scientific and technical services helped to limit the damage.”
Notable improvements were a 1.2 per cent increase in full-time employment during the past seven months and the fact that paid employment rose by 1.2 per cent compared to a slight 0.1 per cent increase in the number of self-employed people.
The CIBC report noted that Albert and Quebec saw their employment quality improve since last March, while Ontario, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada experienced a decline in overall employment quality.
In another report, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Wednesday that confidence among small and mid-sized business owners climbed slightly in October. Its barometer for the month was a modest 63.6, almost a point above September’s 62.7 and two points higher than 61.7 level in August. Business owners in Saskatchewan and Alberta are the most optimistic, with index levels just under 74.
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