Labour Market Update - Halifax

December, 2009* 

Overview 

(Source: http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/lfss05b-eng.htm)

Service Sector fuelling Halifax job growth
 
The Halifax labour market continues to improve.  Employment this month, both full and part-time, is up from November and also up from December 2008 (and for all other past Decembers).  The employment gain this December is the largest for the month since 1990.
 
Compared to November, the labour force is higher, there are fewer unemployed and the unemployment rate is lower.  Compared to last year in December, despite greater employment this year, a much larger labour force has produced larger numbers of unemployed which has pushed up the unemployment rate higher than it was last December.
 
The employment gains, since November and from last December, have occurred in the Service sector.  Accommodation & Food recorded the largest increase during the month but Business, Building & Other Support Services, and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services also added jobs.  Despite the expected seasonal holiday spending in December, Retail & Wholesale Trade employment was down from November but unchanged from last December.  Employment in Educational Services and in Professional, Scientific & Technical Services is up substantially from last year.
 
Goods sector employment is down from November and from December of last year.  Primarily responsible for the decreasing job numbers are the Construction and Manufacturing industry groups.
 
*This report is an analysis of three month moving average data from Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey.  The reader should be cautioned that because of relatively small sample sizes in subprovincial regions, data reliability may be an issue. 

In the News 

NewPace Technology Development Inc. (  www.newpace.ca) in Bedford has secured a five-year payroll rebate from the province, which will help the company hire up to 50 workers. NewPace, which provides software solutions to telecommunications companies and Internet service providers, is looking for people with skills in software application development, project management and quality assurance.  Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-17
 
Halifax's Blue Ocean Contact Centers (  www.blueocean.ca) will receive a five-year payroll rebate worth nearly $2 million, which will allow the company to create up to 350 jobs. The company is expected to begin hiring immediately, with roughly 10 percent of the jobs being on the call centre floor. The average annual salary offered is about $28,000.  Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-08
 
The Halifax Shipyard (  www.irvingshipbuilding.com) was awarded a Defence Department contract worth in excess of $50 million, in order to carry out a major refit of the supply vessel HMCS Preserver. The project will employ 200 to 250 people and will take a year to 18 months to complete . Halifax Shipyard also won a contract worth $20 million to $25 million, to carry out a refit on HMCS Iroquois, which will employ about 110 people and last until late 2010.  Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-15
 
Rosborough Boats Ltd. (  www.rosboroughboats.com) in Tangier, has won another federal contract to build five more rigid hull inflatable boats for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, at a cost of $985,000. This is in addition to the $2.9 million contract the company received in October to build nine similar nine-metre vessels. The contract will extend work for those already on staff, create another four jobs, and will result in 30 people being employed by the end of 2009.
Source: Chronicle Herald   2009-12-17
 
SimplyCast Interactive Marketing (  www.simplycast.com) of Dartmouth has secured $1 million in private funding, which will allow the new company to enter new markets, develop new products and hire more people. The company, which provides email marketing, event management and online surveys for small businesses, expects to hire at least 15 new people this upcoming year.  Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-11
 
According to the Halifax Regional Municipality-HRM (  www.halifax.ca) director of human resources, the city is facing a looming labour shortage. Over the next five years 59 percent of supervisors, managers and directors in the HRM will be eligible to retire, along with 42 percent of all the municipality's employees. The municipality employs about 3,200 full-time staff.  Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-09
 
The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is exploring new opportunities now that Canada has signed a new commercial air agreement with the European Union (EU). The agreement allows carriers from Canada and the 27 EU member states to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services to each others cities and set pricing on a market basis. According to a spokesperson for the airport, Halifax could gain additional cargo lift in both directions, with more larger aircraft able to serve Halifax.   Source: Chronicle Herald  2009-12-23
 
For more information please contact . . .

Gary Hartlin

Economist

99 Wyse Road, P.O. Box 1350

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4B9

(902) 426-5561

E-mail: gary.hartlin@servicecanada.gc.ca 

Web site: www.labourmarketinformation.ca

 

Neill Evans

Labour Market Information Analyst

99 Wyse Road, P.O. Box 1350

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia         B2Y 4B9

(902) 426-2902

E-mail: neill.evans@servicecanada.gc.ca

Web site: www.labourmarketinformation.ca