April 9, 2009 – Anyone with any lingering doubts about the urgent need for a comprehensive national infrastructure package will probably find the latest employment data informative.   

The latest employment figures show that construction employment has declined faster than any other manufacturing sector in the last six months, with provincial figures employment figures largely mirroring the fortunes of construction.  

Numbers released today by Statistics Canada show that employment across the country declined by 61,000 in March, all in full-time work. This decrease pushed the unemployment rate up 0.3 percentage points to 8.0%, the highest rate in seven years.

Employment fell in several provinces in March, with the largest declines in British Columbia (-23,000), Alberta (-15,000) and Ontario (-11,000). Since October, these three provinces also had the fastest rate of employment decreases.

March’s employment losses were spread among core-aged men (25 to 54), youths (15 to 24), and women 55 and over. Since the start of the downturn in October, employment has fallen by 3.1% for core-aged men, the largest five-month loss in 33 years.

Employment declines were concentrated in the goods-producing sector in March, with large losses in manufacturing, construction and natural resources.

Construction employment declined in March by 18,000, the third notable decrease in four months. In percentage terms, this industry had the fastest employment growth from January to October 2008, and has since experienced the steepest decline. Employment in this industry is down 99,000 (-7.9%) since October 2008, led by losses in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. These provinces also had the largest drops in both housing starts and building permits in the most recent year-over-year estimates.

For the second month in a row, employment in natural resources declined, down 11,000 in March. This was led by losses in Alberta, mostly in mining, oil and gas extraction.