Labour Market Monitor - Halifax
October 2010
This is an overview of the Halifax Region which includes all of Halifax County. It consists of dense urban areas, as well as less populated communities. The Halifax County line starts along the coast just west of Hubbards and runs along the coast including Dartmouth, Lawrencetown, Tangier, Sheet Harbour, and Moser River. Communities along the top of the border include Enfield, Milford, Upper Musqoudoboit, and Dean.
The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report focusing on Labour Market Information.
Labour Force Trends
Employment in Halifax increased slightly in October 2010 compared with the same month last year. This increase reflects a very large increase in part time work (5,800), which more than offset a decrease of 5,200 full time workers. The employment increase barely outpaced a rise of 500 in the labour force over the period, and the level of unemployment changed little on a year over year basis. The unemployment rate remained constant at 6.8 percent from October 2009 to October 2010.
For more information, please visit the Statistics Canada website at: www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/lfss05b-eng.htm
| Halifax | October | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: 250 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Labour Force (000) | 230.2 | 230.7 |
| Employed (000) | 214.5 | 215.1 |
| Full Time | 180.0 | 174.8 |
| Part Time | 34.5 | 40.3 |
| Unemployed (000) | 15.7 | 15.6 |
| Participation Rate (%) | 71.5 | 70.7 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| Data is 3 month moving average from the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada | ||
Labour Market News by Industry
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
Power Promotional Events Inc announced this month that it was shutting down operations after recent concert failures. The company owner stated that the company would not declare bankruptcy or put a repayment plan in effect for suppliers' still owed money. (Chronicle-Herald, October 06)
Construction
Bird Construction (www.bird.ca) was awarded a $117 million contract to upgrade a military complex in St. Johns, Newfoundland. The actual workers on the project will come from the Halifax office, which has about 70 staff. (Chronicle-Herald, October 22)
Economic Conditions
According to a provincial forecast released by Export Development Canada (www.edc.ca) this month, the province's international exports are set to decrease by one percent in 2010, before recovering with a 10 percent increase in growth in 2011. The province's diverse economy, lead by natural gas exports from the Deep Panuke energy project and demand for Michelin's X One truck tire, will be key in improving Nova Scotia's export performance. (Chronicle-Herald, October 28)
Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction
According to the CBC, Rowan Companies Inc (www.rowancompanies.com) gave layoff notices to 85 Canadian employees, with most of the workers being Nova Scotians working on the Rowan Gorilla III rig. The Rowan Gorilla is expected to finish drilling operations off Sable Island in November. (Chronicle-Herald, October 05)
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
Bell Aliant's employees in its xwave division (www.xwave.com), including 50 Halifax workers, will be offered jobs with Bell Canada (www.bell.ca) once the $40-million purchase of the division is complete in January 2011. According to Bell Aliant's CEO, xwave will have greater access to the national market and additional information technology capabilities. (Chronicle-Herald, October 27)
Dartmouth's Atlantis Systems Eduplus (www.atlantissi.com) was awarded a three-year $1.9 million training contract by Public Works and Government Services Canada. The company will train technicians who are working on Canada's new military aircraft, through the use of 3-D training simulators. The contract will require 10 more trainers to be hired by the end of the year, resulting in more than 100 staff employed in Nova Scotia. Eduplus also signed a contract earlier in the month to provide 21 training and support staff to the Maritime Helicopter Training Centre in Shearwater. Eduplus employees earn about $90,000 per year, many of whom are former military pilots and technicians. (Chronicle-Herald, October 30)
Public Administration
Based on the most recent Statistics Canada (www.statcan.gc.ca) data, the number of Nova Scotians self-employed increased by 11 percent between 2001 and 2006, to just over 60,000 people. The data also showed that 90 percent of the province's 54,000 businesses had fewer than 20 employees. (Chronicle-Herald, October 22)
Nova Scotia's provincial government (www.gov.ns.ca) has directed its departments to cut spending by five percent over the next three years and reduce their budgets by 10 percent. Only Health, Community Services and Education do not have to trim their budgets. The government intends to eliminate 1,000 jobs, mainly through retirements and voluntary resignations, with only some vacant positions being staffed. (Chronicle-Herald, October 19)
Trade, Wholesale & Retail
Giant Tiger (www.gianttiger.com), a general merchandise store with 196 Canadian locations, will open in September 2011 at the Staples Mall in Dartmouth. About 30 people are expected to be hired to work at the 23,000 square foot store, starting in July 2011. Nova Scotia already has Giant Tiger stores in Halifax, Truro, and New Minas. (Chronicle-Herald, October 28)
Transportation & Warehousing
Jazz Air (www.flyjazz.ca) finalized an agreement this month with Thomas Cook Canada, to operate winter flights on their behalf to sunny destinations. Flights will originate from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, pending regulatory approval. The five year deal is expected to add $100 million a year to Jazz's sales, and the airline expects five percent growth in 2011. This is Jazz's first partnership with a tour operator. The contract will be in effect from November 2010 until April 2015. (Chronicle-Herald, October 01)
The quarterly statistics for the Port of Halifax (www.portofhalifax.ca) are expected to show that overall container traffic at the port is up 35% from last year. According to a port spokesperson, Canadian ports are recovering from the recession, and shipping lines have expanded their services. There are 19 shipping lines that regularly stop in Halifax and over 290,000 containers were handled during the third quarter of 2010. (Chronicle-Herald, October 14)
Note: In preparing this Labour Market Monitor, Service Canada has taken care to provide clients with labour market information from reliable sources that is timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since this document was published. Readers are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect official policies of Service Canada.For more information please contact your local Labour Market Information Analysts for Halifax:
neill.evans@servicecanada.gc.ca
or
glenn.yetman@servicecanada.gc.ca
or visit our website at: www.labourmarketinformation.ca