S
samsonyuen
Guest
From: www.theglobeandmail.com/s...TPBusiness
__________________
Alberta usurps Ontario's job title
HEATHER SCOFFIELD
ECONOMICS REPORTER
Alberta has usurped Ontario's position as the top creator of high-quality jobs, a new study suggests.
"Like in many other economic indicators, Alberta has emerged as the nation's leader in terms of the level of the quality of its labour market," says an analysis of an employment quality index by CIBC World Markets.
The index for the country as a whole slid in the last half of 2005, despite rampant job creation that drove unemployment to a 30-year low. But since January, the index has picked up, with high-paying jobs outpacing the creation of low-paying jobs, says economist Benjamin Tal.
The index is now at its highest since 2002, and the rate of improvement is the fastest since the index was created in 1994.
On a provincial level, Ontario's index is rising, but not nearly as strongly as Alberta's. The resource-rich province was 7.6 points above the June national average, while Ontario was just 2.4 points above the national average.
The explanation lies, of course, in oil. The boom has led to a 15-per-cent rise in high-quality jobs over the past year, Mr. Tal said. And as the engineers and financiers move in, they demand services, leading to the creation of lower-quality jobs. Low-quality jobs have been increasing at a 12-per-cent pace.
"Not only is the level of Alberta's job quality the highest among the provinces, but it is also improving at the fastest pace," the paper says.
In Ontario, however, the manufacturing sector has been shedding jobs. Also, self-employment has been on the rise in that province, and typically, self-employment does not pay as well nor is it as stable as paid employment. Elsewhere in the country, self-employment has been declining.
---------------------------------------------
Is it just me, or is the Globe's sucking up of the West getting annoying?
__________________
Alberta usurps Ontario's job title
HEATHER SCOFFIELD
ECONOMICS REPORTER
Alberta has usurped Ontario's position as the top creator of high-quality jobs, a new study suggests.
"Like in many other economic indicators, Alberta has emerged as the nation's leader in terms of the level of the quality of its labour market," says an analysis of an employment quality index by CIBC World Markets.
The index for the country as a whole slid in the last half of 2005, despite rampant job creation that drove unemployment to a 30-year low. But since January, the index has picked up, with high-paying jobs outpacing the creation of low-paying jobs, says economist Benjamin Tal.
The index is now at its highest since 2002, and the rate of improvement is the fastest since the index was created in 1994.
On a provincial level, Ontario's index is rising, but not nearly as strongly as Alberta's. The resource-rich province was 7.6 points above the June national average, while Ontario was just 2.4 points above the national average.
The explanation lies, of course, in oil. The boom has led to a 15-per-cent rise in high-quality jobs over the past year, Mr. Tal said. And as the engineers and financiers move in, they demand services, leading to the creation of lower-quality jobs. Low-quality jobs have been increasing at a 12-per-cent pace.
"Not only is the level of Alberta's job quality the highest among the provinces, but it is also improving at the fastest pace," the paper says.
In Ontario, however, the manufacturing sector has been shedding jobs. Also, self-employment has been on the rise in that province, and typically, self-employment does not pay as well nor is it as stable as paid employment. Elsewhere in the country, self-employment has been declining.
---------------------------------------------
Is it just me, or is the Globe's sucking up of the West getting annoying?
