Unemployment Rate Highest it's Been in Seven Years

Latest Statistics Canada Report Shows Jobless Rate Up in March 2009

Apr 15, 2009 Vanessa Ho

Statistic Canada has released the findings of its March Labour Report and found that employment declined by 61,000 in March, all in full-time work.

During the month of March, full-time employment declined by 61,000, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.3 percentage points to eight per cent, the highest it's been in seven years, according to Statistic Canada's March Labour Report. In percentage terms, this is the largest decline over a five-month period since the 1982 recession.

Losses in March were widespread across a number of industries, most notably in manufacturing; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing; construction; and natural resources.

Other Findings In the Statistics Canada March Labour Report

Since October, full-time employment declined by 2.8 per cent (-387,000) while part-time has edged up 0.9 per cent (+30,000). "Employers are not able to afford someone on a full-time basis but can part-time," explained Danley Yip, division director of Robert Half Management Resources, in a telephone interview. "You don't have to pay benefits [and it's] one way employers can save employment cost. It's more flexible to bring someone on board for three or four days [than full-time]."

Geographic Comparisons

According to Statistics Canada, Ontario and Quebec had the highest general unemployment rate when compared to the rest of Canada during March. In Quebec, the unemployment rate was 8.3 per cent while Ontario had 8.7 per cent. Yip believed the unemployment numbers were so high in those provinces was because they were the provinces known for manufacturing; the sector hit the hardest because of the economy. BC meanwhile had an unemployment rate of 7.4 per cent or 69,000 jobs lost also mostly in the construction and manufacturing sector.

What Does this Mean for Employers?

"What I am seeing is employers are cautions about hiring," said Yip. "The job market is competitive and there are a lot more candidates available. What we are seeing is employers are taking their time and making sure they are seeing as many candidates as possible." He added that the pool of available blue chip candidates are increasing versus a year-ago when the supply-demand ratio favoured candidates but now favours employers.

A Silver Lining

There are bright spots, however, where the unemployment rate continues to be lower than the general national averages like management occupations; business, finance and administrative occupations; natural and applied sciences (technology) jobs; and occupations in social sciences (legal).

Fields that are hiring

According to the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index, the hiring of full-time accounting and finance professionals is expected to increase slightly in the second quarter of 2009. 12 per cent of chief financial officers (CFOs) polled expect to add staff and seven per cent anticipate personnel reductions; 80 per cent of executives forecast no changes. The net five per cent increase is up one point from the first-quarter projection.

The Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index is based on telephone interviews with more than 270 CFOs across Canada.

"Businesses are turning to accounting and finance staff to implement cost-saving strategies and manage critical priorities," said Kathryn Bolt, district president of Robert Half International’s Canadian operations, in a statement. "Companies are looking for professionals who possess strong functional expertise, excellent interpersonal skills and industry-specific experience and who can hit the ground running.”

Even with higher unemployment rates, however, some financial executives continue to report difficulty finding highly skilled professionals for certain functional areas. 31 per cent of CFOs interviewed cited operational accounting support as the most difficult to fill and 29 per cent said they experience the greatest challenges when hiring accounting roles.

Accounting and Finance Hiring -- By Industry

Among industries, 30 per cent of business services CFOs expect to increase hiring in the second quarter and no one plans on reducing the size of their accounting and finance workforce, for a net 30 per cent increase. In the professional services sector, 28 per cent of CFOs anticipate hiring more staff and two per cent expect staff reductions for a net 26 per cent increase

Next Month's employment numbers

Despite some industries hiring, Yip expects the unemployment numbers to remain soft in April. "What we saw in March will spill over in April," he added. "There are not going to be hiring's taking place. All organizations are trying to operate as lean as possible."

The copyright of the article Unemployment Rate Highest it's Been in Seven Years in Workplace Culture is owned by Vanessa Ho. Permission to republish Unemployment Rate Highest it's Been in Seven Years in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Employment is down for March

Construction hardest hit with unemployment

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