The majority of jobs created in Canada last year were in high-paying sectors, supporting an overall upward trend in employment quality and personal income, according to a report by CIBC World Markets.
“Not only did the Canadian economy generate close to 400,000 new jobs in 2007, but the vast majority of them were in high-paying sectors,” says the brokerage’s senior economist, Benjamin Tal.
Alberta and Saskatchewan led the quality parade in 2007 because of strong job gains in energy extraction and mining, sectors where earnings run from 50% to 125% above the industrial average.
He adds that the number of full-time paid employees in high-paying sectors such as public administration, computer services, and oil and gas extraction rose by a strong 3.6% in 2007, while the number of jobs in low-paying sectors such as general merchandize stores, textile and furniture manufacturing, in fact fell by 1.2% during the year.
“It seems that in Canada, the loss of manufacturing jobs is being offset by job gains in sectors with equivalent and higher employment quality,” Tal explains. “That’s not the case in the U.S. where the jobs now being lost in sectors such as construction/real estate and manufacturing are being replaced by lower quality jobs.”
To view the report on the CIBC World Markets website, click here.
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