The May LFS release pretty much cancels out the (surprising) growth in employment we saw in April. Here is the latest in my series of graphs comparing the current recession with previous experiences:
It's way too early to break out the party hats, but we can perhaps set aside direct comparisons with the Great Depression.
A point that was brought out in the release was the fact that all of the employment losses in May occurred in Ontario. And when you look at cumulative job losses, Ontario is pretty much the only province that is bringing down the national average:
Could someone remind me why having uniform EI eligibility requirements is so brilliant an idea that it should be the basis of an election?
Doesn't Ontario still have stricter eligibility requirements than the Atlantic?
Posted by: Andrew F | June 05, 2009 at 08:11 PM
Could someone remind me why losing 22,000 full-time jobs in BC doesn't show?
Posted by: asp | June 05, 2009 at 08:28 PM
Because when things start going bad in places with historically better employment prospects a lot of people get whacked badly. It may smack of closing the barn after the departure of the horse to do it now, but an actual rather than a theoretical crisis does tend to concentrate the mind.
Posted by: Jim Rootham | June 06, 2009 at 12:36 AM
"... when things start going bad in places with historically better employment prospects a lot of people get whacked badly"
Yup. As an example, see YoY change in the bankruptcies in AB:
http://www.bankruptcycanada.com/bankstats1.htm
Posted by: Patrick | June 06, 2009 at 01:13 AM