http://www.hrmguide.net/canada/jobmarket/canadian-unemployment.htm
Summary:
Statistics Canada reported that the unemployment rate rose to 7.8% in January even though the employment increased by 69,000 jobs. Our country’s employment rate has increased by 1.9% since January 2010. Ken Georgetti, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, stated that the government should pursue policies that would help to create sustainable jobs for the future. The current job growth in the Canadian economy is nowhere near fast or good enough. Statistics show that one out of 5 unemployed Canadians (20.1%) had been unemployed for more than 6 months in January 2011! That percentage has almost doubled since 2008 when the unemployment rate was one out of 10 (11.9%).
Connections:
This article is definitely about the unemployment rate in Canada. The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of the labour force that is not working, yet is looking for work. This means that if an individual has actively looked for work in the last four weeks, they are considered unemployed. There are quite a few types of unemployment such as frictional, seasonal, structural, insurance induced and natural. All these could have been the cause of the rise in our unemployment rate.
Reflections:
I believe that our unemployment rate rose due to seasonal unemployment. Seasonal unemployment results from the seasonal nature of some industries, such as agriculture, construction, tourism and recreation. After December ended, many people were probably unemployed once again due to seasonal jobs during the holidays. With the holidays coming to an end, a rise in unemployment is to be expected in January. Perhaps the government should listen to Ken Georgetti’s words. He is right about creating more sustainable jobs because most of the new jobs created are for part-timers only. This creates an unstable structure for those looking for a long term job because they may decide to keep looking, causing the unemployment rates to stay high.
