Friday, August 8, 2008 Released at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time in The Daily

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Following gains at the beginning of 2008, and little change from April to June, employment dropped by 55,000 in July. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, as many people, particularly youth, left the labour force.

While employment grew by 1.3% over the last 12 months (+227,000), the pace of growth has slowed in recent months. Employment gains have averaged 10,000 per month thus far in 2008 compared with an average monthly gain of 30,000 for 2007.

Most of the employment losses in July were in part time, down 48,000. Over the last 12 months, however, part-time employment has grown by 3.5%, much faster than the 0.9% growth in full time.

Employment decreases in July occurred in manufacturing; business, building and other support services; and educational services. The only significant gains were in accommodation and food services.

Losses for the month were notable for private sector employees, while the public sector saw some gains. Since July 2007, employment in the public sector has grown by 6.1%, compared with 0.5% for the private sector.

July's employment losses occurred in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

Note to readers Please note that Table 1 in the publication 71-001-XWE has been extended to include labour force characteristics for men and women aged 25 to 54 years and 55 years and over at the Canada level. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas or industries will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the "Data quality" section of the publication Labour Force Information (71-001-XWE, free).

In recent months, employment for youth aged 15 to 24 has edged down, resulting in a year-over-year employment decline of 0.3%. The fastest growth rate over the year was for older workers, aged 55 and over, whose employment grew by 7.0%, while employment for core-aged workers, 25 to 54, was up 0.5% over the same period.

Since July of 2007, average hourly wages have risen by 4.0%, still ahead of the most recent increase of 3.1% in the Consumer Price Index. Year-over-year wage increases have been at 4.0% or above since August 2007.

Manufacturing losses continue

Overall, manufacturing employment declined by 32,000 in July, as the number of factory workers dropped by 41,000 in Ontario and increased by 7,000 in Alberta. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing employment across Canada was down 88,000, with nearly all the losses in Ontario.

Employment in business, building and other support services continued on its recent downward trend, with a decline of 30,000 in July. Since July 2007, employment in this industry has decreased by 5.4%, mainly in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

Educational services was down 27,000 workers in July. Despite this decline, employment in education has grown by 3.2% over the past 12 months.

Accommodation and food services was the only industry showing notable gains in July, up 22,000. Over the last 12 months, employment in this industry has risen by 2.1%.

Employment declines in Central Canada in July

Employment in Quebec declined by 30,000 in July, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%. Quebec's employment level is little changed from a year ago as employment increases in construction; professional, scientific and technical services; and manufacturing, were offset by weakness in trade; and information, culture and recreation.

In July, employment in Ontario edged down by 19,000, all in full time. The unemployment rate declined 0.3 percentage points to 6.4%, as 42,000 people, mostly youth aged 15 to 24, left the labour market.

Since July 2007, Ontario's employment is up 1.2%, slightly below the national average. Large losses in manufacturing have been more than offset by gains in public administration; health care and social assistance; construction; and educational services.

Available on CANSIM: tables 282-0001 to 282-0042, 282-0047 to 282-0064 and 282-0069 to 282-0099.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3701.

A more detailed summary, Labour Force Information (71-001-XWE, free) is now available online for the week ending July 19. From the Publications module of our website, under Free Internet publications, choose Labour. LAN and bulk prices are available on request. The CD-ROM Labour Force Historical Review, 2007 (71F0004XCB, $209) is also available.

Data tables are also now available online. From the By Subject module of our website, choose Labour.

The next release of the Labour Force Survey will be on September 5.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; labour@statcan.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact, Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750; vincent.ferrao@statcan.ca), or Jane Lin (613-951-9691; jane.lin@statcan.ca), Labour Statistics Division.

Labour force characteristics by age and sex
	June 2008	July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008
	Seasonally adjusted
	thousands		change in thousands		% change
Both sexes 15+
Population	26,910.7	26,942.8	32.1	372.9	0.1	1.4
Labour force	18,263.5	18,189.4	-74.1	249.2	-0.4	1.4
Employment	17,139.4	17,084.2	-55.2	227.2	-0.3	1.3
Full-time	13,958.0	13,950.9	-7.1	120.3	-0.1	0.9
Part-time	3,181.4	3,133.3	-48.1	106.9	-1.5	3.5
Unemployment	1,124.1	1,105.2	-18.9	22.1	-1.7	2.0
Participation rate	67.9	67.5	-0.4	0.0	...	...
Unemployment rate	6.2	6.1	-0.1	0.1	...	...
Employment rate	63.7	63.4	-0.3	0.0	...	...
Part-time rate	18.6	18.3	-0.3	0.3	...	...
Youths 15 to 24
Population	4,374.8	4,376.9	2.1	22.9	0.0	0.5
Labour force	2,968.1	2,914.0	-54.1	5.9	-1.8	0.2
Employment	2,606.2	2,593.3	-12.9	-6.8	-0.5	-0.3
Full-time	1,440.1	1,419.0	-21.1	-40.5	-1.5	-2.8
Part-time	1,166.1	1,174.3	8.2	33.7	0.7	3.0
Unemployment	362.0	320.7	-41.3	12.7	-11.4	4.1
Participation rate	67.8	66.6	-1.2	-0.2	...	...
Unemployment rate	12.2	11.0	-1.2	0.4	...	...
Employment rate	59.6	59.2	-0.4	-0.5	...	...
Part-time rate	44.7	45.3	0.6	1.4	...	...
Men 25+
Population	11,012.9	11,028.1	15.2	175.7	0.1	1.6
Labour force	8,141.8	8,122.8	-19.0	126.4	-0.2	1.6
Employment	7,707.5	7,682.2	-25.3	117.6	-0.3	1.6
Full-time	7,176.7	7,158.5	-18.2	93.1	-0.3	1.3
Part-time	530.8	523.7	-7.1	24.4	-1.3	4.9
Unemployment	434.3	440.6	6.3	8.8	1.5	2.0
Participation rate	73.9	73.7	-0.2	0.0	...	...
Unemployment rate	5.3	5.4	0.1	0.0	...	...
Employment rate	70.0	69.7	-0.3	0.0	...	...
Part-time rate	6.9	6.8	-0.1	0.2	...	...
Women 25+
Population	11,523.0	11,537.9	14.9	174.4	0.1	1.5
Labour force	7,153.6	7,152.6	-1.0	117.0	0.0	1.7
Employment	6,825.7	6,808.6	-17.1	116.3	-0.3	1.7
Full-time	5,341.2	5,373.4	32.2	67.6	0.6	1.3
Part-time	1,484.5	1,435.3	-49.2	48.8	-3.3	3.5
Unemployment	327.9	344.0	16.1	0.7	4.9	0.2
Participation rate	62.1	62.0	-0.1	0.1	...	...
Unemployment rate	4.6	4.8	0.2	-0.1	...	...
Employment rate	59.2	59.0	-0.2	0.1	...	...
Part-time rate	21.7	21.1	-0.6	0.4	...	...
... not applicable Note: Related CANSIM table 282-0087.

Employment by class of worker and industry (based on NAICS)1
	June 2008	July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008
	Seasonally adjusted
	thousands		change in thousands		% change
Class of worker
Employees	14,528.2	14,462.4	-65.8	248.6	-0.5	1.7
Self-employed	2,611.2	2,621.8	10.6	-21.4	0.4	-0.8
Public/private sector employees
Public	3,408.6	3,438.1	29.5	196.7	0.9	6.1
Private	11,119.6	11,024.3	-95.3	51.9	-0.9	0.5
All industries	17,139.4	17,084.2	-55.2	227.2	-0.3	1.3
Goods-producing sector	4,033.3	4,015.5	-17.8	20.5	-0.4	0.5
Agriculture	325.3	331.7	6.4	-3.3	2.0	-1.0
Natural resources	342.5	341.5	-1.0	9.4	-0.3	2.8
Utilities	157.5	156.3	-1.2	10.5	-0.8	7.2
Construction	1,221.0	1,231.3	10.3	91.7	0.8	8.0
Manufacturing	1,987.0	1,954.7	-32.3	-87.8	-1.6	-4.3
Service-producing sector	13,106.0	13,068.7	-37.3	206.7	-0.3	1.6
Trade	2,694.8	2,675.5	-19.3	-33.6	-0.7	-1.2
Transportation and warehousing	847.1	852.8	5.7	16.9	0.7	2.0
Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing	1,067.6	1,070.5	2.9	17.2	0.3	1.6
Professional, scientific and technical services	1,220.4	1,205.1	-15.3	44.9	-1.3	3.9
Business, building and other support services	693.3	663.2	-30.1	-38.1	-4.3	-5.4
Educational services	1,193.1	1,165.7	-27.4	36.3	-2.3	3.2
Health care and social assistance	1,890.2	1,904.5	14.3	69.7	0.8	3.8
Information, culture and recreation	765.0	762.8	-2.2	-23.4	-0.3	-3.0
Accommodation and food services	1,070.7	1,093.1	22.4	22.9	2.1	2.1
Other services	737.8	743.3	5.5	26.7	0.7	3.7
Public administration	926.1	932.1	6.0	67.0	0.6	7.7
1. North American Industrial Classification System. Note: Related to CANSIM tables 282-0088 and 282-0089.

Labour force characteristics by province
	June 2008	July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008
	Seasonally adjusted
	thousands		change in thousands		% change
Newfoundland and Labrador
Population	426.0	426.2	0.2	3.1	0.0	0.7
Labour force	252.4	253.0	0.6	4.6	0.2	1.9
Employment	219.4	219.3	-0.1	4.6	0.0	2.1
Full-time	188.7	191.4	2.7	4.8	1.4	2.6
Part-time	30.7	27.9	-2.8	-0.2	-9.1	-0.7
Unemployment	33.1	33.7	0.6	-0.1	1.8	-0.3
Participation rate	59.2	59.4	0.2	0.7	...	...
Unemployment rate	13.1	13.3	0.2	-0.3	...	...
Employment rate	51.5	51.5	0.0	0.8	...	...
Prince Edward Island
Population	114.3	114.6	0.3	1.2	0.3	1.1
Labour force	78.9	78.1	-0.8	1.3	-1.0	1.7
Employment	70.9	69.8	-1.1	1.0	-1.6	1.5
Full-time	60.2	58.8	-1.4	0.9	-2.3	1.6
Part-time	10.7	11.0	0.3	0.2	2.8	1.9
Unemployment	8.0	8.3	0.3	0.2	3.8	2.5
Participation rate	69.0	68.2	-0.8	0.5	...	...
Unemployment rate	10.1	10.6	0.5	0.1	...	...
Employment rate	62.0	60.9	-1.1	0.2	...	...
Nova Scotia
Population	768.6	768.9	0.3	4.7	0.0	0.6
Labour force	493.0	488.4	-4.6	2.3	-0.9	0.5
Employment	455.5	455.6	0.1	12.0	0.0	2.7
Full-time	372.9	372.7	-0.2	9.8	-0.1	2.7
Part-time	82.6	82.9	0.3	2.2	0.4	2.7
Unemployment	37.5	32.8	-4.7	-9.7	-12.5	-22.8
Participation rate	64.1	63.5	-0.6	-0.1	...	...
Unemployment rate	7.6	6.7	-0.9	-2.0	...	...
Employment rate	59.3	59.3	0.0	1.3	...	...
New Brunswick
Population	618.0	618.3	0.3	5.2	0.0	0.8
Labour force	402.1	400.3	-1.8	9.3	-0.4	2.4
Employment	362.9	364.9	2.0	2.7	0.6	0.7
Full-time	306.7	307.3	0.6	2.7	0.2	0.9
Part-time	56.2	57.6	1.4	0.0	2.5	0.0
Unemployment	39.2	35.4	-3.8	6.6	-9.7	22.9
Participation rate	65.1	64.7	-0.4	0.9	...	...
Unemployment rate	9.7	8.8	-0.9	1.4	...	...
Employment rate	58.7	59.0	0.3	-0.1	...	...
Quebec
Population	6,369.6	6,374.3	4.7	56.6	0.1	0.9
Labour force	4,186.9	4,164.5	-22.4	13.4	-0.5	0.3
Employment	3,885.0	3,855.3	-29.7	-5.3	-0.8	-0.1
Full-time	3,164.6	3,150.8	-13.8	5.6	-0.4	0.2
Part-time	720.5	704.5	-16.0	-10.9	-2.2	-1.5
Unemployment	301.9	309.2	7.3	18.8	2.4	6.5
Participation rate	65.7	65.3	-0.4	-0.4	...	...
Unemployment rate	7.2	7.4	0.2	0.4	...	...
Employment rate	61.0	60.5	-0.5	-0.6	...	...
... not applicable Note: Related CANSIM table 282-0087.

Labour force characteristics by province
	June 2008	July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008	June to July 2008	July 2007 to July 2008
	Seasonally adjusted
	thousands		change in thousands		% change
Ontario
Population	10,503.4	10,516.8	13.4	150.2	0.1	1.4
Labour force	7,166.2	7,124.7	-41.5	74.5	-0.6	1.1
Employment	6,687.7	6,668.8	-18.9	80.6	-0.3	1.2
Full-time	5,419.3	5,394.9	-24.4	-21.1	-0.5	-0.4
Part-time	1,268.4	1,273.9	5.5	101.8	0.4	8.7
Unemployment	478.5	455.9	-22.6	-6.1	-4.7	-1.3
Participation rate	68.2	67.7	-0.5	-0.3	...	...
Unemployment rate	6.7	6.4	-0.3	-0.2	...	...
Employment rate	63.7	63.4	-0.3	-0.2	...	...
Manitoba
Population	909.4	910.5	1.1	11.3	0.1	1.3
Labour force	635.0	633.4	-1.6	12.9	-0.3	2.1
Employment	608.8	609.6	0.8	14.9	0.1	2.5
Full-time	490.5	494.0	3.5	12.3	0.7	2.6
Part-time	118.3	115.6	-2.7	2.6	-2.3	2.3
Unemployment	26.2	23.8	-2.4	-2.0	-9.2	-7.8
Participation rate	69.8	69.6	-0.2	0.6	...	...
Unemployment rate	4.1	3.8	-0.3	-0.4	...	...
Employment rate	66.9	67.0	0.1	0.9	...	...
Saskatchewan
Population	766.8	768.0	1.2	16.9	0.2	2.3
Labour force	530.9	528.9	-2.0	6.2	-0.4	1.2
Employment	509.6	505.4	-4.2	7.7	-0.8	1.5
Full-time	417.5	418.5	1.0	11.4	0.2	2.8
Part-time	92.1	86.9	-5.2	-3.7	-5.6	-4.1
Unemployment	21.2	23.5	2.3	-1.5	10.8	-6.0
Participation rate	69.2	68.9	-0.3	-0.7	...	...
Unemployment rate	4.0	4.4	0.4	-0.4	...	...
Employment rate	66.5	65.8	-0.7	-0.5	...	...
Alberta
Population	2,795.1	2,800.0	4.9	51.2	0.2	1.9
Labour force	2,086.4	2,086.0	-0.4	49.5	0.0	2.4
Employment	2,017.7	2,010.9	-6.8	43.2	-0.3	2.2
Full-time	1,682.5	1,688.3	5.8	31.7	0.3	1.9
Part-time	335.3	322.6	-12.7	11.5	-3.8	3.7
Unemployment	68.6	75.1	6.5	6.3	9.5	9.2
Participation rate	74.6	74.5	-0.1	0.4	...	...
Unemployment rate	3.3	3.6	0.3	0.2	...	...
Employment rate	72.2	71.8	-0.4	0.2	...	...
British Columbia
Population	3,639.6	3,645.3	5.7	72.7	0.2	2.0
Labour force	2,431.9	2,432.1	0.2	75.2	0.0	3.2
Employment	2,321.8	2,324.6	2.8	65.6	0.1	2.9
Full-time	1,855.5	1,874.2	18.7	62.2	1.0	3.4
Part-time	466.3	450.3	-16.0	3.3	-3.4	0.7
Unemployment	110.0	107.5	-2.5	9.6	-2.3	9.8
Participation rate	66.8	66.7	-0.1	0.7	...	...
Unemployment rate	4.5	4.4	-0.1	0.2	...	...
Employment rate	63.8	63.8	0.0	0.6	...	...
... not applicable Note: Related CANSIM table 282-0087.