OTTAWA – A new study warns Canada’s job market is in bad shape.
The latest “employment quality index” from C-I-B-C says not only has jobs growth stalled over the past half year, but the quality of new jobs is generally poor.
It says that while full-time employment rose 1.5 per cent during 2011, many new jobs were in the less desirable self-employment class.
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And senior bank economist Benjamin Tal says low-paying work rose four times faster than high-paying employment.
Tal says with both the quantity and quality of jobs falling, it’s no surprise that real disposable income was unchanged in the first nine months of last year — the worst showing in 15 years.
He says we haven’t seen this kind of softening in a non-recessionary period since all the way back to the 1970’s.
Tal says he expects quality jobs will remain scarce this year because governments are cutting back on the public service.
And he says the combination of a cooling housing market and the end of stimulus infrastructure projects will hit the construction industry hard.
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