Participation in Canada – 70 per cent of decline over the past year has been due to decreased female participation

Canada’s labour force participation rate — the percentage of people with a job — has been declining, and according to TD economist Brian DePratto, more than 70 per cent of that decline over the past year has been due to decreased female participation.

Contrary to a popular theory, it’s not baby boomers retiring and leaving the workforce. DePratto’s research suggests women aged 40 to 49 are seeing the largest declines in employment. In the past year, this group has seen employment decline between 2.2 and 2.6 per cent.

The difficult question is, why is this happening?

One explanation DePratto offers is that female-dominated industries saw a decline starting in late 2013. Female employment is concentrated in education, health care, retail, information/culture industries and and public administration, and employment across these sectors has decreased by nearly 0.5 per cent over the past year.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Why Are Women A Shrinking Part Of Canada’s Workforce?.