Jobs report hides slow growth, Good Jobs Summit final report released today

TORONTO, April 10, 2015 /CNW/ - A positive jobs report today is camouflaging slow growth and a very sluggish economy, says Unifor President Jerry Dias.

"Employment over the last year has only increased by less than one per cent (0.78 per cent), this is nothing to get excited about," said Dias. "If anything, we should be questioning why our economy is only churning out new jobs in spits and spats. There is no continual improvement – only hopes raised and hopes crushed with each new month."

Dias said the country needs serious leadership on job creation. 

The union, along with Good Jobs Summit partners: the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ryerson's Centre for Labour Management Relations and the CAW-Sam Gindin Chair at Ryerson University released the Good Jobs Summit final report today.

Dias said that taken in context, today's reported increase of 29,000 net new jobs isn't great news. It comes on the heels of the loss of 28,000 full time jobs, backfilled by 57,000 new part-time jobs.

More on today's jobs numbers – compiled by Unifor Economist Jim Stanford: 

• Total employment is up by only 138,000 positions in the last year (an increase of 0.78 per cent). But the working age population grew by 304,000 people – more than twice as much. New jobs are not keeping up with population growth, and hence the share of people working continues to fall – just 61.4% in March.
• Full-time employment fell again in March (this time by 28,000 jobs).
• There have been no full-time jobs created in Canada yet all year. For young people (15-24), full-time employment has declined by 15,000 positions over the last year.
• Only 100,000 paid positions (not counting self-employment) have been created in the last year (an increase of 0.7%).
• Of those new paid positions, over two-thirds have been in the public sector. Private sector firms are adding hardly any jobs at all (up just 32,600, or 0.2%, in the last year).

The Good Jobs Summit final report pulls together all of the findings of Summit speakers such as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Jim Irving, former advisor to Barack Obama Van Jones, Unifor President Jerry Dias, CP Rail Vice-President Human Resources and Labour Relations Peter Edwards and others as well as insight from workshops on a range of topics from how to create green jobs in the new economy to issues facing young and more senior workers, education and training, and much more. 

View the online version and or download the interactive pdf.

SOURCE Unifor

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