Many Canadian Sectors Hiring

With Canada continuing to lead the world in escaping the economic hardships left by the global recession, job seekers across the country are slowly finding it easier to regain employment. With one of the worst rates of job loss in Canadian history being a key ramification of the recession, it is rewarding to hear that the nation’s unemployment rate continues to dip.

Today, Kate Robertson of Investopedia.com writes that for the first time since January 2009, the unemployment rate is lower than 8%. According to Statistics Canada, 93,000 new jobs being created in June helped for the jobless rate to dip to 7.9%. These gains almost offset all of the employment losses that occurred as a result of the financial crisis beginning in the fall of 2008.

Robertson notes that, at present, Canadians have the best chance of finding employment in five key sectors. The first, she writes, is the retail and wholesale sector. There has been an increase of 69,000 workers in this trade over the past year. Last month, she reveals, 22,000 jobs were created in this sector.

The business and support services sector is also hiring. With 20,000 new positions created in June and 86,000 provided since January, this sector is steadily rising. In fact, a number of companies have added manager positions as well as administrative staff to their workforce.

As well, health care and social assistance is a sector that is also growing. 20,000 new jobs were added in June as our aging population is seeking health care at an increasing rate. Robertson writes that “the Canadian Nurses Association warns that there will be a shortage in health care professionals in the future” so they are working on attracting newcomers to the field.

“The automotive repair and personal care service sector also increased,” writes Robertson. 17,000 new jobs in that industry were added in June as a result of many people in the field retiring. Attracting young people, therefore, has become a top priority in this sector.

Finally, construction has added 11,000 jobs to its industry in the past month and is the fastest growing sector over the past year. Robertson notes that 94,000 new jobs have been added since July 2009. With the obvious growth in each of these five sectors, it would appear evident that Canada has successfully recovered from the recession.

Michael Atkinson, President of the Canadian Construction Association had this to say on the subject: “The much needed spending announced last year provided stimulus to the Canadian economy through investments in infrastructure, college infrastructure, green technology as well as incentives to help in retraining Canada’s unemployed.”