Canada’s Job Record / Clearly near the top

According to the OECD data, which can be found at http://stats.oecd.org, there were 38,205,190 people working in Germany in the third quarter of 2009. That number grew to 40,499,230 in the third quarter of 2013 — an increase of six per cent.

Canada came in second, with an increase of 5.81 per cent between the third quarter of 2009 and the third quarter of 2013.

They were followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Japan and Italy.

However, it’s possible the government is simply using a different data set or reference points when it claims to be the best job creator in the G7.

“The stats can tell a story one way or another,” Antunes said.

“But I think essentially the truth is, we’ve done relatively well, I think, no matter how you slice it versus most of the OECD or the G7.”

Van Loan and Flaherty didn’t mention the employment rate, which many economists believe is a better indicator of the health of the labour market than simply the number of jobs created.

That’s because the employment rate takes into account the fact that the population is growing in many countries all the time. It measures the proportion of the working age population that actually has a job.

According to the OECD, Canada comes out on top if you look at the employment rate of everyone over the age of 15.

Using that metric, Canada’s employment rate was 61.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2013. The United States came in second with an employment rate of 58.6 per cent.

But you get a different picture if you only look at the employment rate of people between the ages of 15 and 64. Many people aim to retire by age 65.

Germany’s employment rate for people between 15 and 64 in the third quarter of 2013 was slightly better than Canada’s during the same period.

The employment rate for 15-to-64-year-olds in Germany was 73.4 per cent — good enough to place highest in the G7 — compared to 72.4 per cent in Canada.

Still, whether Canada is No. 1 or No. 2, the economists agree the country has done well.

“At the end of the day, though, Canada is clearly near the top,” Gregory said. “Whether we’re No. 1 or not, we can quibble.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Does Canada really have the best record on job creation in the G7? – Canada, Need to know – Macleans.ca.

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