According to Statistics Canada, employment rose by 79,000 in November, bringing the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 8.5%. Full-time employment increased by 39,000 in November, the 3rd consecutive monthly increase. Part-time employment also rose in November (+40,000), following two months of declines.
November saw an increase in the number of private (+57,000) and public (+54,000) sector employees, while the number of self-employed workers declined (-32,000). In recent months, the number of employees in the public sector, as well as the number of self-employed, has trended up, while in the private sector, the trend has been relatively flat.
Most of the gain in overall employment in November was among women aged 25 to 54 (+51,000) and men aged 55 and over (+17,000).
Almost all the employment growth in November was attributable to the service sector (+73,000), especially educational services. With November's increase, employment in the service sector is back at its October 2008 level, while employment in the goods sector remained well below (-324,000) where it was at that time.
Employment growth was widespread across most provinces with the largest gains in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
