May 2005, vol. 7, no. 1 - Job Creation

According to Statistics Canada's Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, close to 161 000 net jobs (payroll jobs) were created between the fourth quarter of 2003 and the fourth quarter of 2004 (Table 1). This gain is much greater than the growth (88 000 jobs) recorded between the fourth quarter of 2002 and the fourth quarter of 2003. As Table 1 indicates, total growth in employment between the fourth quarter of 2003 and the fourth quarter of 2004 was generated by large firms (those with 500 employees and over), which accounted for 101 percent of net job creation. Small and medium-sized businesses both lost jobs. Among small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees), those with 5–19 employees were the only ones that contributed to net job creation (59 percent). However, these gains were offset by the employment decrease in the other categories of small businesses.

Table 1: Year-over-year Net Change¹ in Payroll Employment² by Firm Size, Canada, Q1 2001 to Q4 2004

Quarter	Change, y/y	% Contribution to Total Net Change by Size of Firm (Number of Employees)
	%	Jobs	0–4	5–19	20–49	50–99	0–99	100–299	300–499	100–499	500+
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, March 2005. 1 Year-over-year net change in payroll employment is calculated as the variation between the level of employment in a given quarter and the level in the same quarter a year before. 2 Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours data exclude self-employed workers who are not on a payroll, and employees in the following industries: agriculture, fishing and trapping, private household services, religious organizations and military personnel of defence services. The data breaking down employment by size of firm also exclude unclassified industries.
Q1 2001	3.7	445 166	10.2	1.3	8.2	6.1	25.8	11.3	3.6	14.9	59.3
Q2 2001	2.8	344 563	2.0	8.8	13.2	12.1	36.2	11.1	2.6	13.7	50.2
Q3 2001	1.8	220 741	30.4	2.5	17.2	15.9	66.0	0.1	-1.2	-1.1	35.0
Q4 2001	0.9	119 087	33.3	39.9	35.9	13.9	123.0	-18.6	-39.6	-58.2	35.2
Q1 2002	0.9	110 112	-10.5	32.3	43.0	36.9	101.8	-8.3	-26.6	-34.9	33.1
Q2 2002	1.7	220 493	-2.2	5.4	36.9	37.7	77.6	14.1	-16.2	-2.2	24.6
Q3 2002	2.9	372 033	-0.5	1.0	24.0	25.4	50.0	16.8	-8.6	8.2	41.9
Q4 2002	3.7	468 689	-1.0	2.0	22.3	23.6	46.9	13.1	-1.9	11.1	41.9
Q1 2003	3.3	417 394	1.6	-0.2	17.6	19.7	38.8	13.1	2.8	15.9	45.4
Q2 2003	2.3	295 106	4.5	0.3	9.6	9.5	23.9	12.4	4.4	16.8	59.3
Q3 2003	1.0	132 639	9.0	-5.9	14.5	15.5	33.2	16.4	11.5	28.0	38.8
Q4 2003	0.7	88 037	7.4	-15.4	18.6	29.6	40.2	17.3	13.9	31.2	28.6
Q1 2004	0.5	60 967	1.4	20.6	16.5	26.6	65.1	0.8	-39.9	-39.1	74.0
Q2 2004	0.7	91 118	-20.6	95.2	-29.6	-46.8	-1.8	-32.1	21.4	-10.7	112.5
Q3 2004	1.2	158 951	-19.1	59.9	-10.2	-30.3	0.3	-9.6	3.1	-6.5	106.3
Q4 2004	1.2	160 950	-12.1	58.6	-13.5	-33.1	-0.2	0.4	-0.7	-0.2	100.4

Table 2 presents a breakdown of net changes in average payroll employment by industry and business size. Net change is the difference between the average level of employment in the four quarters ending the fourth quarter of 2004 and the average level in the preceding four quarters. Almost 118 000 net jobs were created during that period. The largest job losses (50 328) occurred in manufacturing, which represented 43 percent of the net total. In contrast, three industries created 85 percent of the Canadian net total: retail trade (40 percent); administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (24 percent); and construction (21 percent). Among small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees), net job creation was 9574 jobs, but there were large changes in many industries. Thus, 19 426 jobs were created in construction, while 10 570 jobs were lost in manufacturing and a further 8 371 jobs disappeared in wholesale trade.

Table 2: Year-over-year Annual Net Change¹ in Payroll Employment² by Industry and Firm Size, 2003 to 2004

Industry	Change, y/y		Total Net Change by Size of Firm (Number of Employees)
	%	Jobs	0–4	5–19	20–49	50–99	0–99	100–299	300–499	100–499	500+
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, March 2005. 1 The year-over-year annual net change in payroll employment is calculated as the difference between the average level of employment in the four quarters of 2004 and the average level of the four quarters of 2003. 2 Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours data exclude self-employed workers who are not on a payroll, and employees in the following industries: agriculture, fishing and trapping, private household services, religious organizations and military personnel of defence services. The data breaking down employment by size of firm also exclude unclassified industries. 3 Total net change in employment within each industry and by firm size may not add up due to rounding.
Forestry	-6.3	-3 523	-463	289	-317	-354	-845	413	-126	287	-2 965
Mining and oil and gas extraction	3.6	5 338	277	465	1 008	-23	1 726	1 594	571	2 164	1 447
Utilities	5.7	6 509	105	197	-344	-801	-844	-2 119	-30	-2 149	-2 149
Construction	3.9	25 039	-498	10 056	4 777	5 092	19 426	3 077	2 256	5 333	280
Manufacturing	-2.5	-50 328	-2 229	-325	-2 529	-5 487	-10 570	-4 462	-26	-4 487	-35 271
Wholesale trade	-1.4	-10 838	-3 551	2 893	-5 544	-2 170	-8  371	-763	598	-165	-2  302
Retail trade	2.9	47 039	-4 603	14 165	-3 223	-9 379	-3 040	-8 700	-112	-8 812	58 891
Transportation and warehousing	1.0	5 866	-85	1 129	343	-612	776	1 096	389	1 484	3 606
Information and cultural industries	-0.1	-345	-100	342	-415	796	623	-1 244	-628	-1 872	904
Finance and insurance	0.2	1 284	-1 640	1 606	-908	485	-458	4 750	1 846	6 596	-4 855
Real estate and rental and leasing	2.1	4 888	-519	2 892	-28	-1 322	1 024	-321	445	124	3 742
Professional, scientific and technical services	0.7	4 709	475	6 156	-1 712	-727	4 193	3 879	-643	3 237	-2 721
Management of companies and enterprises	0.0	0	185	714	310	-802	407	236	-777	-541	134
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services	4.7	28 178	413	1 118	-2 321	919	128	454	-2 993	-2 540	30 590
Educational services	1.5	14 140	292	344	-586	-785	-736	491	-2 603	-2 112	16 989
Health care and social assistance	1.4	19 128	1 242	8 629	-3 336	-3 812	2 723	-87	373	286	16 120
Arts, entertainment and recreation	0.5	1 231	220	1 380	288	-975	913	-930	-1 348	-2 278	2 596
Accommodation and food services	0.4	3 527	-3 260	10 884	1 596	-11 587	-2 368	-9 100	1 743	-7 358	13 254
Other services (excluding public administration)	1.4	7 099	-3 095	9 022	-1 371	-1 937	2 620	154	1 625	1 779	2 700
Public administration	1.2	9 055	-99	271	556	1 519	2 247	756	-819	-63	6 870
Canada total3	0.9	117 997	-16 934	72 224	-13 755	-31 962	9 574	-10 829	-260	-11 088	119 510

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