Small Business Research and Statistics
November 2007, vol. 9, no. 3 - Job Creation
According to the latest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours from Statistics Canada, the number of payroll employees continued to increase in the first quarter of 2007 by 285 728 compared with the first quarter of 2006 (Table 2). However, this increase corresponds to an annual growth of 2.1 percent, the lowest over the past four quarters. Large firms represented roughly half of the employment growth (52.9 percent) over the last year in Canada. Employment growth over the same period was 19.4 percent from medium-sized businesses and 27.7 percent from small businesses.Footnote 1 Compared with the previous quarter, the contribution from small businesses decreased by 10.1 percentage points.
Table 2: Year-Over-Year Net Change1 in Payroll Employment2 by Industry, First Quarter 2007
| Quarter |
Change |
% Contribution to Total Net Change (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, September 2007.
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 2006 |
2.7 |
351 389 |
5.2 |
10.7 |
11.7 |
9.6 |
37.1 |
14.4 |
0.7 |
15.1 |
47.8 |
| Q2 2006 |
2.8 |
379 019 |
6.2 |
11.2 |
11.4 |
9.9 |
38.7 |
10.3 |
2.8 |
13.0 |
48.2 |
| Q3 2006 |
2.5 |
332 268 |
4.9 |
8.1 |
10.0 |
9.7 |
32.7 |
8.6 |
4.0 |
12.5 |
54.8 |
| Q4 2006 |
2.3 |
320 298 |
11.6 |
1.0 |
13.0 |
12.2 |
37.8 |
7.2 |
5.3 |
12.6 |
49.6 |
| Q1 2007 |
2.1 |
285 728 |
-1.7 |
9.9 |
11.9 |
7.5 |
27.7 |
11.8 |
7.6 |
19.4 |
52.9 |
| Industry |
Growth (Jobs), First Quarter 2007 |
| Forestry |
-9.6 |
-5 264 |
-497 |
-1 097 |
-1 499 |
-260 |
-3 353 |
-821 |
-1 580 |
-2 401 |
491 |
| Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction |
9.9 |
17 029 |
823 |
1 318 |
1 542 |
908 |
4 591 |
1 447 |
2 509 |
3 956 |
8 484 |
| Utilities |
0.3 |
372 |
105 |
305 |
27 |
-54 |
383 |
-232 |
1 080 |
848 |
-860 |
| Construction |
4.9 |
31 614 |
6 791 |
5 106 |
6 250 |
4 150 |
22 297 |
3 030 |
1 848 |
4 878 |
4 439 |
| Manufacturing |
-2.4 |
-44 182 |
-3 333 |
-241 |
-5 745 |
-7 086 |
-16 405 |
-5 277 |
7 562 |
2 285 |
-30 061 |
| Wholesale trade |
2.5 |
17 817 |
-338 |
1 772 |
1 795 |
1 092 |
4 321 |
-487 |
6 830 |
6 343 |
7 153 |
| Retail trade |
3.8 |
62 787 |
-3 380 |
753 |
3 744 |
2 013 |
3 130 |
15 325 |
636 |
15 961 |
43 696 |
| Transportation and warehousing |
2.7 |
16 549 |
-309 |
356 |
-555 |
458 |
-50 |
174 |
-353 |
-179 |
16 778 |
| Information and cultural industries |
1.2 |
4 257 |
-200 |
372 |
-322 |
1 921 |
1 771 |
712 |
1 852 |
2 564 |
-80 |
| Finance and insurance |
3.7 |
21 982 |
-66 |
399 |
-44 |
152 |
441 |
-1 749 |
639 |
-1 110 |
22 649 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing |
0.9 |
2 267 |
-248 |
1 756 |
1 188 |
1 266 |
3 962 |
1 561 |
760 |
2 321 |
-4 017 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services |
3.8 |
26 207 |
-688 |
6 402 |
3 536 |
3 038 |
12 288 |
4 780 |
1 056 |
5 836 |
8 082 |
| Management of companies and enterprises |
-0.7 |
-637 |
687 |
655 |
966 |
536 |
2 844 |
689 |
-329 |
360 |
-3 840 |
| Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services |
2.5 |
16 478 |
864 |
3 005 |
2 283 |
754 |
6 906 |
2 348 |
4 653 |
7 001 |
2 571 |
| Educational services |
1.9 |
21 650 |
389 |
925 |
1 248 |
-41 |
2 521 |
809 |
-2 609 |
-1 800 |
20 929 |
| Health care and social assistance |
2.3 |
32 706 |
1 041 |
5 375 |
5 643 |
3 424 |
15 483 |
-2 893 |
-2 442 |
-5 335 |
22 559 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation |
1.9 |
4 041 |
3 |
108 |
-13 |
616 |
714 |
680 |
-1 429 |
-749 |
4 076 |
| Accommodation and food services |
3.9 |
36 572 |
-6 373 |
-531 |
12 198 |
8 889 |
14 183 |
7 855 |
1 861 |
9 716 |
12 674 |
| Other services (excluding public administration) |
2.1 |
10 595 |
-15 |
1 379 |
1 483 |
-120 |
2 727 |
1 287 |
277 |
1 564 |
6 303 |
| Public administration |
1.6 |
12 888 |
-139 |
273 |
387 |
-152 |
369 |
4 399 |
-1 110 |
3 289 |
9 232 |
| Canada total |
2.1 |
285 728 |
-4 883 |
28 389 |
34 112 |
21 506 |
79 124 |
33 634 |
21 712 |
55 346 |
151 257 |
In the first quarter of 2007, year-over-year employment growth was highest in the mining and oil and gas extraction sector at 9.9 percent. Construction (4.9 percent), accommodation and food services (3.9 percent), retail trade (3.8 percent) and professional, scientific and technical services (3.8 percent) were the next sectors that grew the most. The sector with the largest increase in the number of new jobs among small businesses was the construction sector (22 297 jobs), followed by the health care and social assistance sector (15 483 jobs).
Between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2006, job declines were reported in forestry (-9.6 percent), manufacturing (-2.4 percent), and management of companies and enterprises (-0.7 percent). The manufacturing sector experienced the greatest number of jobs lost at 44 182, of which 16 405 were lost among small businesses and 30 061 were lost among large businesses.
