The Aboriginal population has experienced mixed outcomes for the core economic indicators.
• Aboriginal labour force participation and employment rates have declined while unemployment rates have increased from 2006 to 2011, reflecting the impact of the 2008-09 economic downturn. The gap in employment and participation rates between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations increased as Aboriginal rates fell more than non-Aboriginal rates. The Aboriginal unemployment rate increased to 15.0% in 2011, from 14.8% in 2006. Unemployment rates for the non-Aboriginal population increased at a faster rate, from 6.3% in 2006 to 7.5% in 2011, leading to a one percentage point drop in the gap between the two populations. Despite this gain, the unemployment rate for the overall Aboriginal population was twice as high as for the nonAboriginal population in 2011.
• Gains have been made by the Aboriginal population in closing the average income gap with the non-Aboriginal population, declining by almost six percentage points since 2005. However, declines in the median income gap, which are not affected by outliers from higher income recipients, were not as large. Also, dependency on government transfers has increased. Over one third of the overall Aboriginal population 15 years and over (36.5%) relied on government transfers as their main source of income in 2010, up from 33.8% in 2005. The gap with the non-Aboriginal population has remained virtually unchanged as a result of a similar increase in dependency on government transfers by the non-Aboriginal population.
• The rate of self-employment among the Aboriginal population, an indicator of entrepreneurism, declined from 6.8% to 6.4%. The gap with the non-Aboriginal population declined by almost one percentage point as a result of a larger drop in self-employment rates for the nonAboriginal population.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The Aboriginal Economic Progress Report 2015
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