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LABOUR: Canada creating better jobs despite hiring slowdown, Saskatchewan surpasses Alberta
        (AlbertaIndex, July 31, Thursday) --- Quality, not quantity: that seems to be the message Canadian employers are sending out to job seekers.
        According to CIBC World Markets, the number of full-time employees in high paying sectors is rising steadily across the country at the same time that the overall number of new jobs is growing at a much slower pace.

Job growth in sectors such as mining, farm product distribution, internet services and the manufacturing of beverages, tobacco, and electronic and printing products, is up six percent since last year.

That’s contributing to an overall upward trend in job quality and personal incomes despite weakening conditions elsewhere in the labour market, said Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets in his latest Employment Quality Index (EQI) report.

Meanwhile, the number of jobs in low paying sectors such as repair and maintenance, clothing and clothing accessories has also risen, notes Mr Tal, but by less than one per cent during the past year with none of that increase has occurred over the last six months.

The index, which assesses employment quality through factors such as the number of part time and full time jobs, as well as compensation and self-employment levels across 100 industry groups, finished June at an 18-month high and increased 2.4 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Mr Tal points out that rising employment quality has occurred despite part-time employment rising faster than the number of full-time opportunities. Meanwhile, the labour market has slowed down rapidly over the last three months.

On average, the economy is generating just 7,500 new jobs a month compared to about 40,000 a year ago.
For workers, the good news is that the average weekly wage rose by a “dazzling” 4.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

“That’s almost double the inflation rate. The increase reflects the bargaining position of those who hold full-time, highly-skilled positions,” he said.

On the downside, this trend of rising wage pressure in the face of a weakening labour market will add pressure to the Bank of Canada to consider raising rates next year, said Mr Tal.

The report also notes that Saskatchewan has surpassed Alberta as leader in the level of employment quality among Canadian provinces.

“This improvement was fuelled by strong gains in agriculture, energy extraction and mining exploration and developments, where earnings can run anywhere from 50 per cent to 125 per cent above the industrial average,” said Mr Tal.


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