Employment in Canada increased for a 13th consecutive year
in 2005, the longest stretch of employment gains since the
large-scale increases of the 1960s and 1970s. Over the
last 13 years, employment growth has averaged 2.0% per
year, according to a new report on Canada’s labour market.
Despite the fact that jobs were readily available last year, people
took themselves out of the labour market, leading to a rapid tightening
of labour market conditions.
About 17.3 million people were in the labour market last
year, 67.2% of the working-age population, a decline
of 0.3 percentage points from 2004. Previously, the
participation rate had increased every year
between 1996 and 2003, and had held steady in 2004.
Much of the decline in 2005 was the result of ageing baby
boomers, adult women and young people leaving the labour force.
With demand for labour strong and supply conditions tightening, the
unemployment rate fell in 2005, hitting 6.8%, the lowest
annual unemployment rate since 1976.
The report also pointed to other key developments in the labour market during the past few years.
For example, the employment situation for older workers
aged 55 and over has become increasingly brighter. Last
year, 29.9% of this population had jobs, up from 29.0%
in 2004, the ninth consecutive annual increase in their employment
rate since hitting a low of 22.0% in 1996. Some of these
gains have been due to the influx of baby boomers into this group.
At the same time, more workers are nearing retirement than ever
before. In 2005, an estimated 3.6 million workers were
within 10 years of (or older than) the median retirement age
of 61. They represented 22.1% of the total, up
from 10.3% in 1986.
