Small Business Research and Statistics
May 2008, vol. 10, no. 1 - Job Creation
According to the latest release of Statistics Canada's Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, the number of payroll employees increased by 319 939 in the fourth quarter of 2007 (Table 1). This corresponds to a year-over-year increase of 2.3 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. Small businesses represented approximately 35 percent of the growth in Canada. The year-over-year contribution to employment growth from medium-sized enterprises was 14.9 percent, while large firms contributed 50 percent, representing a 1.8 percentage point increase compared with the third quarter of 2007. The contribution to employment growth from small businesses has been steadily increasing since the dramatic 10.1 percentage point drop in the first quarter of 2007.
Table 1: Year-Over-Year Net Change1 in Payroll Employment2 by Industry, 4th 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, March 2008.
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.
|
| 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 |
| Q2 2007 |
1.9 |
263 633 |
-1.2 |
8.1 |
12.4 |
9.1 |
28.4 |
13.0 |
7.4 |
20.4 |
51.2 |
| Q3 2007 |
2.4 |
330 421 |
3.0 |
14.4 |
11.2 |
6.0 |
34.5 |
11.2 |
6.1 |
17.3 |
48.2 |
| Q4 2007 |
2.3 |
319 939 |
-2.4 |
18.9 |
11.9 |
6.7 |
35.1 |
8.6 |
6.3 |
14.9 |
50.0 |
| Industry |
Absolute Change (Jobs) |
| Forestry |
-3.3 |
-1 900 |
-646 |
-506 |
911 |
477 |
236 |
-1 010 |
-1 210 |
-2 220 |
84 |
| Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction |
4.5 |
8 410 |
381 |
1 308 |
583 |
1 453 |
3 725 |
291 |
2 377 |
2 668 |
2 016 |
| Utilities |
2.0 |
2 429 |
117 |
111 |
138 |
239 |
605 |
621 |
-790 |
-169 |
1 993 |
| Construction |
8.2 |
63 217 |
-8 119 |
23 916 |
11 706 |
8 795 |
36 298 |
16 826 |
2 429 |
19 255 |
7 662 |
| Manufacturing |
-3.9 |
-72 096 |
-1 312 |
-816 |
-3 614 |
-7 348 |
-13 090 |
-9 760 |
2 022 |
-7 738 |
-51 266 |
| Wholesale Trade |
2.5 |
18 626 |
-1 880 |
2 039 |
1 504 |
3 788 |
5 451 |
3 609 |
-4 043 |
-434 |
13 610 |
| Retail Trade |
4.4 |
78 541 |
-3 266 |
4 690 |
7 173 |
5 090 |
13 687 |
11 278 |
4 410 |
15 688 |
49 168 |
| Transportation and Warehousing |
2.4 |
15 170 |
1 740 |
1 571 |
-1 570 |
265 |
2 006 |
-2 993 |
3 361 |
368 |
12 796 |
| Information and Cultural Industries |
0.8 |
2 799 |
-114 |
-591 |
-106 |
-1 933 |
-2 744 |
-19 |
1 506 |
1 487 |
4 055 |
| Finance and Insurance |
2.6 |
15 818 |
-507 |
-26 |
-2 463 |
946 |
-2 050 |
-4 103 |
-651 |
-4 754 |
22 624 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing |
3.2 |
7 856 |
352 |
472 |
114 |
697 |
1 635 |
1 953 |
194 |
2 147 |
4 075 |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Services |
2.1 |
15 110 |
467 |
5 949 |
4 203 |
3 075 |
13 694 |
-1 193 |
-98 |
-1 291 |
2 705 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises |
2.7 |
2 630 |
539 |
1 165 |
2 005 |
680 |
4 389 |
-772 |
533 |
-239 |
-1 520 |
| Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services |
2.6 |
18 188 |
398 |
4 375 |
4 364 |
-2 235 |
6 902 |
2 586 |
3 884 |
6 470 |
4 815 |
| Educational Services |
2.7 |
30 963 |
569 |
761 |
499 |
116 |
1 945 |
1 954 |
-415 |
1 539 |
27 478 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance |
2.6 |
37 724 |
-2 545 |
8 720 |
4 688 |
-462 |
10 401 |
-4 054 |
5 378 |
1 324 |
25 998 |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation |
1.8 |
4 103 |
-62 |
-513 |
934 |
1 302 |
1 661 |
56 |
-1 883 |
-1 827 |
4 270 |
| Accommodation and Food Services |
4.0 |
40 055 |
3 714 |
3 131 |
5 237 |
5 727 |
17 809 |
4 618 |
2 387 |
7 005 |
15 242 |
| Other Services (excluding public administration) |
2.2 |
11 644 |
2 464 |
3 839 |
1 814 |
-37 |
8 080 |
3 995 |
983 |
4 978 |
-1 414 |
| Public Administration |
2.6 |
20 653 |
-118 |
890 |
100 |
665 |
1 537 |
3 692 |
-242 |
3 450 |
15 666 |
| Canada Total |
2.3 |
319 939 |
-7 828 |
60 490 |
38 219 |
21 298 |
112 179 |
27 573 |
20 131 |
47 704 |
160 058 |
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the construction sector experienced the highest year-over-year employment growth at 8.2 percent, with small businesses accounting for 57.4 percent of employment growth in the sector compared with large firms at 12.1 percent. Employment growth across all firm sizes was also strong in the following sectors: mining and oil and gas extraction (4.5 percent), retail trade (4.4 percent), and accommodation and food services (4.0 percent). Small businesses with the largest increase in employment occurred in the construction (36 298) and accommodation and food services (17 809) sectors.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2006, the manufacturing sector experienced a year-over-year decline in employment growth of 3.9 percent. Large firms were responsible for 71.1 percent of the 72 096 jobs lost in this sector, while small businesses accounted for 18.1 percent of the jobs lost. Since the third quarter of 2006, both the manufacturing and forestry sectors have continued to experience a decline in the number of employees.
