Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Market Bulletin

Labour Force Trends – Employment decreased in August while the labour force grew slightly.  As a result the unemployment rate increased to 13.7%.  However, employment levels remain strong from a longer term perspective.   

• In August, the unemployment rate increased to 13.7% from 11.9% a month earlier as employment declined while the labour force grew.  Losses in full-time employment outweighed gains in part-time work.  Compared to August of 2010, employment levels are marginally higher and the unemployment rate is down slightly.
   
• The reported drop in employment was mainly for those aged 25 years and older for both genders, while youth employment was essentially unchanged. 

• Despite the reported employment loss in August, Newfoundland and Labrador shows a net gain in jobs over the course of the year. Employment levels are up by 1,600 or 0.7% over August of 2010. This compares to a 1.3% gain nationally. For most of the year the province had been among the leaders in job growth.
    
• The unemployment rate jumped notably in August. In recent months, the rate was below 12%, which was quite low for this province from a longer term perspective. Before this recent period, rates below 12% had been last reported in 1981. Compared to last August, the unemployment rate is now down by 0.3 percentage points. Newfoundland and Labrador continues to have the highest unemployment rate of all provinces. 

Source: Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey

 Employment by Industry – The monthly decrease in employment was mainly in the Goods sector. Over the past year, the Goods sector and Service sector contributed equally to employment growth. 

• The goods-producing sector had most of August’s employment losses. Construction declined from its all-time high in July and Manufacturing lost its gains from the previous month.
    
• Employment in service-producing industries was essentially unchanged from July. Losses in Trade were offset by gains in Accommodation and Food Services.
    
• Over the past twelve months, Construction and Trade have led the way in employment growth. Health Care and Social Assistance has declined from January’s record high. Forestry, Fishing, Mining and Oil and Gas also showed a drop over last August, despite growth earlier this year. 

Economic Regions – Results were mixed across the province. Notre Dame – Central – Bonavista Bay shows a notable drop in the size of the labour force. In August, the unemployment rate was lower than it had been twelve months earlier for all regions except the South Coast – Burin Peninsula region. 

• The Avalon Peninsula, which includes the St. John’s area, showed a decline in the unemployment rate of 1.5 percentage points to 8.9% between August 2010 and August 2011. The reduction in the unemployment rate was caused by an increase in full-time employment, while the size of the labour force is essentially unchanged from twelve months earlier. Construction and Public Administration showed notable growth while employment in Health Care and Social Assistance had the largest decrease. 
   
• The South Coast – Burin Peninsula region experienced an increase in the unemployment rate between August 2010 and August 2011. This is because the decline in employment exceeded the drop in labour force size, leaving more people looking for work than a year ago. Full-time employment losses outweighed some gains in part-time work. Most of the employment loss was in service producing industries.
   
• In the West Coast – Northern Peninsula – Labrador region, the unemployment rate fell by 2.5 percentage points over the last twelve months to 13.5% on the strength of full-time employment increases. Employment grew faster than the expanding labour force, lowering the number of unemployed workers. Employment growth was mainly in the Goods sector.
   
• The unemployment rate for the Notre Dame – Central – Bonavista Bay region was down slightly compared to twelve months earlier, from 15.2% to 14.6%. However, this was not due to job growth. Employment levels dropped slightly since last August, while the size of the labour force declined at a faster rate. As a result, there were fewer people looking for work. While employment levels decreased across a number of industries, Construction showed a notable gain from twelve months prior. 

Prepared by: Labour Market Information Unit (NL), Service Canada

For more information, visit our website at www.workingincanada.gc.ca

Please note that labour market news summaries are now available in separate publications for each region of the province, called the Labour Market Monitor.
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