Labour Market Bulletin - Northern Nova Scotia

April 2009*

Overview 

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

In Northern Nova Scotia, employment fell while the level of unemployment rose between March and April 2009.  The result was a 0.8 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate.  The employment decline was in full-time employment with part-time employment rising, thereby reducing the net employment loss.  Both the level and rate of labour force participation fell during this period.

Between April 2008 and April 2009 the unemployment rate rose by 2.8 percentage points to 13 percent.  This was the result of employment falling and the level of unemployment rising.  Over 4,000 full-time jobs were lost but a significant increase in part-time employment reduced the overall net job loss.  As with the monthly change, labour force participation fell.  In March and April of 2009 the large year-over-year declines in employment and increases in unemployment and the unemployment rate began to occur.  This indicates the labour market in Northern Nova Scotia did not begin to feel the effects of the economic downturn until March.

Industry Analysis

The employment reduction was mostly in the Goods-Producing Sector with the Service-Producing Sector experiencing net employment growth in April 2009 from the previous year.  The Construction and Manufacturing Industries experienced the largest employment reduction in the Goods Sector.  Employment growth in the Primary Industries reduced the overall net loss.

In the Service-Producing Sector employment growth was strongest in the Accommodations & Food Services and Health Care & Social Assistance industries.  The largest employment losses were in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Services and Trade industries.

Employment reductions in the Construction, Manufacturing and Trade industries, which are all sensitive to consumer demand, are indications of the labour market effects of an economic downturn.

*This report is an analysis of three month moving average data from Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey.  Thereader should be cautioned that because of relatively small sample sizes in subprovincial regions, data reliability may be an issue.

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