Unemployment Rates Expected To Continue Rising

More bad news for Canadians seeking jobs today. What else is new, right? Well, unless you're seeking employment opportunities with Synergy Merchant Services – who is still hiring – it doesn't appear as if getting a new job is going to come all that easy for those looking for a way to battle out of this recession.

The recession, of course, has left many a Canadian the victim of cutbacks to the workforce. The trend, apparently will continue to rise over the next year as Canada's rate of unemployment is expected to jump to almost 10 per cent from 8.7 per cent, says business reporter Iain Marlow in today's edition of The Toronto Star.

Contrary to previous reports, a report released by The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development earlier today noted that despite the federal government's stimulus package and global signs that the recession is coming to an end, Canada's unemployment rate continues to rise.

As has been discussed on the Synergy Merchant Services Blog, Ontario continues to be hit hard by the joblessness rate, especially in the manufacturing sector. This has contributed to the bulk of the 486,000 full-time jobs that have been lost since around this time last year.

The OECD report, says Marlow, notes that job loss has been particularly brutal for young adults aged 15-24 who experience an unemployment rate of 16.3 per cent. This approximately doubles the adult rate.

According to the report: “Even if the unemployment rate has already peaked, Canada's labour market typically takes a long time to recover from recessions…The unemployment rate in the early 1990s recession peaked in early 1993, but did not drop below its prerecession level again until almost eight years later.”

If there is some glimmer of hope in this seemingly hopeless scenario, it comes courtesy of the new “Help Wanted Index”. Marlow writes that this index, which measures online job postings, found that in August there was a rise of 2.6 per cent compared to July.

Says Pedro Antunes, director for the non-profit research group's national and provincial forecast: “While the Help Wanted Index does not yet point to a rebound in hiring, it suggests that the number of job losses is bottoming out.”

Synergy Merchant Services' commitment to offering hard-working and determined Canadians the opportunity to start a new career remains intact. We hope to inspire more companies across this great nation to develop more positions for qualified, yet out-of-work citizens. The recession has to end some time.