Finance minister encouraged by latest job numbers

The country gained 36,000 jobs last month, most of them were self-created. Economists say the better-than-expected numbers could mean the recession is turning around.

CTV Newsnet: Michael McCracken, Infometrica, Ltd. on the job increase

There are still questions as to how beneficial the latest Canadian employment numbers are, as to the nature of the new jobs being reported.

CTV Ottawa: Norman Fetterley with details on the local job situation

CTV Ottawa: Norman Fetterley on the local job situation

CTV Newsnet: BNN's Amanda Lang on the unexpected gains in the job market

Canadians should remember that though the numbers seem positive, it is a net number. Most of the jobs created were self-employed positions, so the quality of jobs created actually decreased.

CTV Newsnet: Ian Lee, Carleton University, on what the job gains mean

The fact that Canada saw job creation, when analysts were predicting big losses, is good news. While self-employment may not have been a first choice for many, it could lead to new innovations.

CTV Newsnet: Eric Lascelles, chief economist, TD Securities, on the implications of the job numbers

It's a bit peculiar that self-employment was a source of gains in the job market, but it is difficult to say whether a one month increase is indicative of a positive trend.

CTV Newsnet: BNN's Michael Kane with the numbers and reaction from economists

Economists are already saying that the current jobs number are likely not indicative of a trend, and are questioning the rise in people who say they are 'self-employed.'

Canada AM: David King, recruitment expert for Robert Half International, on how to land a job in tough times

A recruitment expert shares tips on which industries are still hiring and why summer can be a great time job hunt.

Watch: See all Videos in the Player

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CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Fri. May. 8 2009 6:02 PM ET

The federal finance minister said last month's increase of self-employed workers, along with other improvements in the Canadian economy, shows the "recession is softening."

As the country has posted jobless numbers for months, Jim Flaherty told a business audience in Hamilton, Ont., he counted the job numbers released Friday among "the glimmers of hope" he's seeing on the economic recovery front.

However, he told CTV's Power Play host Tom Clark later Friday that he's still remaining "quite cautions about simply relying on one month's results."

Canada boasted a surprising 35,900 new workers in April as the unemployment rate remain unchanged at 8 per cent but economists say they're not convinced it's an indication that the economy is set to recover from the recession.

About 1,100 employees lost their jobs in April but the job gains were the result of an increase of 37,000 people who reported being self-employed, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

Economists warned about "trusting" the self-employment figures.

Michael Kane, with the Business News Network, told CTV Newsnet that there could have been errors in self- reporting during the survey.

"Perhaps somebody, when the survey is conducted, they say 'I lost my job but I'm working for myself now,'" he said.

Economists say the problem with self-employment is that it lacks a steady income and is considered a last resort for people who can't find jobs elsewhere.

A rise in self-employment could also be a signal of the country's weaking labour market, said Sylvain Schetagne, an economist with the Canadian Labour Congress.

"If you don't qualify for employment insurance or if you have exhausted your benefits and there are no jobs out there, what do you do?" he asked. "You sell everything and on social assistance or you become self-employed.

"They change their status from unemployed to self-employed but can they live on it?" he added.

However, analysts were quick to point out that even if the "self-employment" category was removed, overall employment would have shrunk by only 1,100 jobs in April -- a far cry from the 50,000 job loss that was originally predicted.

The numbers surprised the majority of economists and the news spurred a gain by the Canadian dollar by more than one cent to more than US86 cents for the first time since early November.

"This is a better than expected report that no one saw coming," economists at ScotiaCapital Inc said in a note.

"Yes, there were distortions including the heavy influence of a gain in self-employment that we mistrust at this point in the cycle. But the losses elsewhere were much less significant than feared."

Douglas Porter, of BMO Capital Markets, agreed and warned Canadians to remain cautious.

"The report is clearly good news but it's premature to send the all-clear signal," he told The Canadian Press.

Employment conditions in the U.S. were not as favourable.

About 539,000 U.S. jobs were lost in April, disappointing economists who believed encouraging developments in the manufacturing, housing and sales industries would have a greater impact on the numbers. However, the job-loss figure was less than what economists predicted for Americans.

David King, a recruitment expert with Robert Half International, said he's not sure the gains in Canada's job market will continue.

"One month doesn't necessarily make a major story but certainly the shock this morning is a reassuring one," King told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

The employment gains occurred in information, culture and recreation; business, building and other support services; "other services"; and agriculture.

Employment was unchanged in manufacturing and construction.

All the employment growth in April occurred in Quebec (+22,000) and British Columbia (+17,000).

Meanwhile, employment declined in Nova Scotia (-4,100) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-2,800). There was little change in the other provinces.

The increase in employment in April was spread between adult men aged 25 and over (+25,000) and older women aged 55 and over (+12,000).

Despite April's job gains, overall employment has fallen by 321,000 since October 2008.

Since last October, employment has declined for men aged 25 to 54 (-2.9 per cent) and youths aged 15 to 24 (-4.7 per cent), whereas it has increased for older workers (+0.9 per cent).

Earlier this week, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said he expects the country's economy to continue on its downward spiral until the last quarter of 2009.

"In the end, (April's gain) doesn't matter because it's an aberration to what will be a full year of job losses, said Derek Holt, an economist with Scotia Capital. He pointed to further expected layoffs in the auto industry.

Canada has lost 321,000 jobs and 356,000 employees since October.

With files from The Canadian Press

Comments are now closed for this story

Ed, Toronto
said

I'm surprised at how some people look down on self-employment. Tough at the beginning? Yes, but that's what EI is supposed to help you transition. Uncertainty of work? What job doesn't have uncertainty? The only people with guaranteed jobs are employed by the government. Maybe we should all do that. Look how well it turned out in the communist countries.

But really, good people have less uncertainty as self-employed. Company layoffs seem to come more because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or by (lack of) seniority, especially if unions are involved. Rarely by competence, again, especially if unions are involved. Our work just grew and grew, as did that of all of our clients. My wife's hairdresser started up at home a couple of years ago and now works long hours almost every day. My wife called today to make an appointment and found he's booked till August. Good people charging a fair price are always in demand. Incompetents and lazy people who want to be overpaid need a union.

WHAT
said

17,000 jobs?

How many of those are for Elections BC, who hired in April for what? a month...Remember last falls federal election, when the media came out with job number increases - how many were working for elections BC.

How about student's and seasonal labourers, just going back to work as they have in the past...when a sawmill shifts start going back to work or the mass independent business in the building industry go back to work, taht's when things will be getting better...IT TAKES TIME,,let's not trick ourselves...U only get better the next day from a 24 hour flu, "THIS is not a 24 hour flu,,,,yes canada has fared better...and the recession in the US started back in 2007,when we were still riding the wave...hopefully Canadians won't have to wait as long as our working neighbors,,,point is we still have to wait...We have been conditioned to expect new products, stimulates on a daily basis,,,what would you do if you couldn't go shopping?

Rick in SK
said

What are those old sayings about economists? "if you laid all the economists in the world end to end you still would not reach a conclusion" and "Economists have predicted 10 out of the last 6 recessions."

Kevin in Toronto
said

Larry in Ontario

It affects 4?

I'm talking actual numbers. Nowhere near a million. Look it up. Not even half.

You used the Statscan number for the 36,000 but made up your own number for the previous months.

Spud Lite
said

I would say that all of the economists in the world could get together in one place and chorus, "Yes, we are in a world wide recession."

Yes, they saw it coming, and they realized that some collective effort would have been required to counter the actions of these greedy rapacious suits in the USA.

They also realized that they could not collectivize (probably not a word) to counter the whole sub-prime progression, because it would have required an international effort to refuse all of the "creative" economic products that were emanating from the US financial institutions. The fallout - bankruptcies, unemployment is really not their fault.

Lone economists are like canaries in coal mines. Except they never stop chirping.

Dave from Jim Flahertys riding
said

Jim Flaherty needs some good news for a change in this bad ressesion . I agree with some of the Comments about rising OIL prices . If we
see Gasoline go up this summer AGAIN then this will effect consumer spending and kill the Auto industry that is cutting jobs daily .

karl
said

I am quite neutral when it comes to politics. Its quite amusing how those that lean towards the Tories will credit this government with the positive news, but blame the negative on the Liberals.

Is it not a fact that the reason this country is in "better shape" than other nations is because of the policies introduced by formal finance minister, Paul Martin. Whether you are left,right or central, you have to give Paul Martin credit for much of the positives we currently find our selves in.

These job numbers are somewhat optimistic, at least we appear not to be losing jobs at the rate of other western major economies, but look out, the next few months may show a less rosy picture as we see the effect of job losses in the auto sector and the further erosion of the entire manufacturing sector. To be fair to the Tories, they can do little about these job losses. Western governments decided to adopt policies that would open our markets to cheap goods, because we consumers apparently demanded cheaper goods. Western governments decided that our workers were paid to much to manufacture those products you buy at Walmart.

A by product of our immigration policy was to import immigrants that would do jobs for minimum wage that apparently you and I would not do. Even those jobs are disappearing because of the theory that the world will become one economy. Canada built an economy on such immigration, now we are building a welfare state around these same immigrants. I am for immigration provided the economic policies are in align.

Has the quality of your life improved with cheaper products, or do you feel more stressed??

Marg
said

"The numbers surprised the majority of economists".

Just goes to show you that this is a volatile and unpredictable economy. To all of you that say PM Harper didn't know about the recession, blah, blah blah.

What do you say now???

Does that mean that the majority of economists are not credible and can't do their job, or does it really mean that this is a world wide recession that no-one could have predicted with any certainty what would happen and when. Not even your newly "crowned" Liberal leader, and certainly not Jack Layton!!!!

How's the Gov't Responsible for this?
said

To all the people giving the gov't credit for this story, uh, what? What's the government have to do with this? People are showing initiative and creating their own jobs, yet you're going to credit to political parties? I fail to see the logic. Maybe the world would be a better place without political parties and if we voted for individuals who can think for themselves rather than people only allowed to be as innovative as the party is comfortable with. And since CEO's and major corporations ARE REALLY running the country, why vote for parties? I'd rather vote in CEOs who appear to have the real power.

Larry I Ontario
said

Kevin in toronto, yes the real number is about one million....for every one job lost it effects on average 4 people. what about all the business lost as a result of people being unemployed? People cut back spending so it effects the drugstore, the grocery store, food places, suppliers to industries like auto parts and the list goes on. I stand by my statement that 36000 jobs while a start is nothing to right home about. I am not blaming any political party. Its just reality!

Another name to replace the word "UNEMPLOYED"
said

I for one cannot do it at home without any distraction.

Motivation is another issue if you don't have a plan. Bills are still coming in - non stop!

In order to collect Unemployment Insurance nowasday you need to work for 900 hours - 6 months in order to collect maximium of 55% of your gross income for a maxamium of 52 weeks.

Therefore it is TOUGH to get on the line and try to get your share of the pie!

Overall, "Self employ" sounds a lot better than "Unemployed". But again, how much money you really bring home is the reality!

Simon in Toronto
said

BTW, I'm a self-employed father of 4; my wife is a stay-at-home mum. I had 2 'office' jobs after university, 3 years at the first place, less than 2 at the second. After the second down-sizing I went to work for myself. It's tough at times, but do-able.

The most amazing thing I've seen in the last few months is how well lots of small-to-medium size businesses are doing through this recession. We all know about who's hurting, and how badly. Now we need to hear about the success stories. We need to encourage more people to chase their entrepreneurial dreams. As the old saying goes, there's no time like the present!

Dave T
said

I understand the need to be cautious about self employment numbers; but this is something that we should be celebrating. Canada has a long reputation of being a very entrepeneurial society, and we should be looking at these figures as a recognition that our economy has the ability to adapt in tough times. Small Business has for a long time been a driver in this country, and we should continue to help promote and support this vital part of our economy.

Vic
said

Self-employed increased, Obviously misleading figure demonstrated Tories government has no typical solution in recent severe recession.

Canadian job seekers could not benefit from TSX index thousand points advanced. As TSX surging shares are mainly related to Western Canada Oil and Natural resources companies.

Still Cold in MB
said

To Ed in Toronto:

I'm self employeed too, 39, 3 kids, wife's gone back to school. Did not have the luxury of working for 23 years in an office job, as it seems the average life of job (company lifespan it seems) is 3-4 years . You were probably "taken care of" by a medium/big company, paid well, decent benefits... vacations. Now that your kids are grown, you most expensive and time consuming years passed, being self employed works well. But would that have been the case 23 years ago? Don't forget you get to double up your CPP contributions as an employer. And "REAL" vacations, out of the question, as your customers need you at their convenience, not yours. And the uncertainty of work... it might have weighed heavier when the kids were home, and postman always delivered the bills on time. Your comment indicating others need to take care of themselves, rings in as one of those "pot calling the kettle black" comments.

Spud Lite
said

In 1992, we had a recession. In most firms, the first people to be let go were middle managers. I was one of them.

The fellow who laid me off suggested that I get into consulting, so I did.

Although I've had a brief period of full-time work in the interim, I've spent the balance of the last 17 years as a consultant, and have found it to be a win-win situation for a couple of reasons.

1) There is no longer the pretence of loyalty between an employee and a corporate entity. No more hurt feelings. When the contract's up, you move on.

2) The money's better - you just need to know how to apportion it, square yourself with CRA, investments, insurance, etc. And an employer no longer needs to worry about you as an individual. You're just a resource.

Once you develop a realistic attitude about yourself vis-a-vis the workforce, your self-sufficency is increased about 100-fold.

Dave from Toronto
said

To: Rick in SK
Hi Rick, I too am self-employed and have spent years building my business. Which is awesome. My point was how in one month can an unemployed person, become self-employed and earn a living? Likely they were doing projects on the side before and then when laid off and became 100% invloved in their "side" business. But starting directly from scratch is hard hard work, getting business is hard work and many people who consider themselves self-employed actually earn no money, especially in the beginning.

Stu from London
said

Harper did absolutely nothing to facilitate this slight increase. Nice to see, but everyone citing Harper and the Conservatives as the reason, perhaps they can provide a direct source to prove their point.

Kevin in Toronto
said

Larry in Ontario

A million have lost their jobs since January 1st?

Check your numbers.

Not even close.

Simon in Toronto
said

Alex (Toronto): "The reality is that economic growth in both the US and Canada mapped to small-l liberal governments in both countries."

You're omitting the fact that in both countries, liberal governments followed conservative governments that had laid the groundwork for future growth. In Canada, the 2 biggest influences on our economy through the Chretien years were free trade with the US and the implementation of the GST. Chretien successfully managed a good economy by 1) not messing up Mulroney's work, and 2) stealing ideas from the Reform Party. All of that has been well and widely reported over the years.

In the States, Reagan's reforms led directly to a decade of growth. The Republicans would have been able to enjoy your so-called mapping if not for Ross Perot, who facilitated the election of Bill Clinton with only 43% of the popular vote. (And to think that *some* people questioned GWB's creds with 49.8%!)

The same basic path was followed in the UK: Thatcher fixed things, her successors for a time enjoyed the fruits of her labour, then proceeded to make a mess of things.

Seen in this light, the recent global economic decline can be blamed on politicians (including GWB) who strayed from the successful policies of their capitalist predecessors. The last thing we need now is more of same!

DD from ON
said

So the unpredictability of a steady income is worse than the predictability of earning a minimum-wage salary?

I'm self-employed and have loads of work coming my way because I perform well.

How many people's jobs have a guarantee against them being fired?

Wilf
said

It'll just take a little time to come around.
Look - all a recession really is - is a big clearance sale. There has been too much production, or a drop in demand, and extra things need to be cleared out to bring everything back in balance.
There are too many cars, so they need to be cleared out. Likewise with cameras, houses and with jobs in the areas where there has been too much production.

Then, after the clearance is done, away we go again.

The best way to do this is by letting the real customers (the market) take care of it.

The worst thing to do is let government try to stop it. Like the Liberal/NDP idea that if a welfare cheque arrives 5 minutes late it's a national crisis. That only makes things worse and the recession longer and deeper..

Rick in SK
said

"Dave from Toronto
The unemployed became self employed? Did any of them actually earn money? I know some "self-employed" people who do not earn much...like the guy on the corner who I put a twoonie in his cup once in awhile."

Hmm... well like I said before, I am self employed, I didn't even finish grade ten and I know I make a lot more than my doctor. If you are willing to work, improve your job related skills, save and invest, pay off your debts, you will do very well in life.

Brian Grafton
said

I totally disagree with your economists. I run a small sign & decal shop, and for the past few months, pretty much since the beginning of January, I have been kept exceptionally busy making signs and decals for people starting up thier own small businesses. And these aren't just people claiming to be self employed, some of them are so busy in thier new businesses that they haven't even bothereed to pick up thier sign orders because they already have to much work to do.
The way I see it these are the smart people who realize that this whole econmoic meltdown was and is the result of big business and banks being greedy, and the government being to near sighted to see what was coming. As for us average canadians and small business folk, we're doing just fine thank you very much! And if you folks in the media would learn to put a cork in it once in awhile and quit yapping about all the terrible things happening, we'd all be a lot better off. Of course if you insist on keeping up your doom and gloom reporting, well honestly the only people you are really hurting are the big businesses like Walmart and the like, and that doesn't hurt my feelings one little bit. Me and the several million other small business owners in Canada will be more then happy to pick up the slack!

Prof. Pye Chartt
said

@ Alex (Toronto)

"Fortunately parliamentarians representing a majority of Canadians were able to force the Conservatives to acknowledge the economic disaster and take some steps in common with our trading partners to deal with the crisis."
_____________________

It took me several minutes to respond to your post, Alex, as I was laughing too hard. Talk about peeling your own partisan banana and then slipping on it.

Rather, my friend, the Liberals and NDP in Parliament ran around like a bunch of chickens with their head cut off in a fit of political desperation, pointing in all directions, and calling for PM Harper to do "something"...but they weren't exactly sure what.

Your revisionism (recent history) is just another sad and exceedingly lame attempt to discolor this latest piece of good economic news because it runs contrary to your anti-Conservative political agenda.

Let it go, and be positive. Doing so will lower your political blood pressure.

Tim
said

Well, of course, professional people that lost their jobs want to try themselves as self proprietors or incorporated businesses. This does not mean anything as the majority of these people will fail to keep their start ups on. And yet again, tough luck trying to get any loans from our Banks these days. Still very dovish on the current employment market. To me, I do not see any positive signs. Not yet.

JB in Calgary
said

@ Ian-Alberta

Ok people quick lesson in Unemployment. You can't use the total population of Canada to determine Unemployment and we'll use the 2005 numbers as an example.

In 2005 the total Adult population was 25.81 million the Labour Force was 17.34 million. The LF includes people who are looking for work and who are working. The other 8.46 million are not in the labour force, this includes students, home-maker, retirees and all others that are not looking for work THESE ARE NOT INCLUDED IN UNEMPLOYMENT.

In 2005 there were 1.17 million unemployed and 16.17 million employed. So an increase in jobs of 35,000 people using 2005 numbers works out to a 0.2% deacrease in unemployment. This is worked out by (# of unemployed)/(labour force) X 100.

0.2% decrease in unemployment one month is pretty good (obviously 2005 numbers are not the same as 2009, but there wouldn't be much of a difference).

So Ian please learn how to do the math before you start making comments about the math.

Sam Anderson in Calgary
said

i was laid off from TELUS, now I am working for WestNet wireless in Calgary, they are like the only company that is really booming here in Alberta

Clarke from Edmonton
said

Ian-Alberta...your calculation is slightly off by a decimal point.

But the point 35,000 jobs may not seem like a lot, but if you were to gain 35,000 jobs per month for an entire year, that would add up to 420,000 jobs. If you estimate that 20 million people work in Canada (or want to work), that would be an increase of 2.1% in jobs over 1 year. That in any estimation would be a good increase on a per year basis. So don't downplay the fact that we gained 35,000 jobs...it is better than you think.

Linda in Vancouver
said

So let me see if I got this right.In the midst of a global recession,the economy was expected to lose 50,000 jobs in Canada,but actually saw 36,000 more people working,and yet this is still bad news.
I certainly agree with people who insist Canada has a lot of work ahead if we want a competetive economy that provides a decent living for all of us.That is nation builing,and it goes on forever.
What troubles me,is the large number of people who seem to actually be hoping that we fail.This news is better than the predictions by economists.And it is only one small ray of hope in difficult times.I would't expect the haters and the doomsday crowd to actually be grateful or optimistic in the face of reasonably decent news.But hoping our country fails just so the political party of your choice can secure the reins of power? How pathetic is that?
It's quite sad,but it now appears that the worst news those Harper Haters can imagine,is an economy in recovery.They are so filled with anger and hatred that they actually hope the recession goes on and on.Their greatest fear is that the economy might actually get better BEFORE they defeat the Harper government.
Well,I like success for my country.I would much rather live successfully with a leader I don't like very much than with failure and a leader I adore.And,I am always open to changing my vote.Party loyalty comes AFTER loyalty to country.
And yes,I can reveal my own bias.I was Liberal,but now support Conservative ideas and policies on MOST major issues.I also think anyone who agrees with all of the policies of one party is letting somone else do their thinking for them.That may make a good case for better education.

Decidedly Libra
said

HARPER - 2 LIBERAL ECONOMISTS - 0

SELF EMPLYED
said

Many a great business was started by someone fed up with the work force and deciding to work for themselves.

I've run my own business for the past 12 years. There is nothing like desperation to get the mind working on solutions!

Frank Buchan (Vauxhall, Alberta by way of Ontario)
said

Right. Some good news...let's try to tear it down, because gods forbid we actually recognise not everything is entirely negative.

Matt Fownes, PC, Halifax
said

Vote for the Nova Scotia PCs! Where 20,000 new jobs are going to be created through heavy focus on public sector jobs and the health industry ( which is growing largely because of the senior population ). Vote for the party that will keep jobs in rural areas, as most of Canada's industry is from rural communities. The NDP and Liberals have failed to appease anyone outside of a major city.

Warren AB
said

When will people take responsibility? I live in Alberta, when the oilfield slumps every few years like the last 30 years, I'm not hanging out at parliment waiting for a hand out, I save my money and some times I've been shut down for 4-5 months. So I've had to do other things to feed the family, there are lots of jobs out there, yes you might not make $50 an hour but isn't $20 an hour better then nothing?. Take some pride in yourself, there's no shame in feeding the family, stop whining and get to work.

Linda in Ottawa
said

What's wrong with some of you people. A JOB IS A JOB!!! Who cares if its just cutting grass or selling Dickie Dee icecream. Someone is buying them and someone is making money from them. In these days, beggars can't be choosers. If you are one of those who is starting your own business, I wish you every success. Come on Canada, lets show the rest of the world that we are not just sitting on our butts waiting for a stimulus hand out.

Ian- Alberta
said

35000 new jobs means that .001% of canadians received a new job. Wow, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Alex (Toronto)
said

The reality is that economic growth in both the US and Canada mapped to small-l liberal governments in both countries, which is why Canada's growth period continued when the US stalled. Most economic growth has been driven by consumer spending, and consumer spending stalls when the government puts the social safety net into question. Worker productivity is driven by hope and econmic security, not by fear.

The job growth in April is clearly a sign of resilience, not long-term strength. Canada's highly-educated labor force can fall back on their own skills when capital-driven businesses are collapsing. It indicates a failure of large companies in the private sector; when greed and incompetence take down the big companies, individual initiative is the only option left for some people.

If partisan bloggers want to shout out every small tick in stats as an indication of long-term trends, they might want to look at a poll or two lately. The reality is that governments around the world are obliged to take similar actions, regardless of their political orientations, and that Canada has some advantages from its long-term values and fundamentals, not its short-term politics. Fortunately parliamentarians representing a majority of Canadians were able to force the Conservatives to acknowledge the economic disaster and take some steps in common with our trading partners to deal with the crisis.

Mykey, The Lakehead
said

Canada needs job seekers, not Employment Insurance seekers.

X-treme right wing in NB
said

so on CNN the US rate is 8.9% and now Canada is 8.1% !!

This is the first time I can remember when our rate was lower than the US.

Wait until the infrastructure money kicks in this summer.

I think this is great news. I know the liberals would really like to see our country implode just so they could get elected.

AH
said

What I think is happening is that the people that were laid off in the winter have now found another source of income.

They are either unemployment,and working a pt job, or they have started up their own business.

Also,this is peak season for people working in landscaping or construction, or farming.

But the problem is by the fall people will not be able to do landscaping , or gardening, etc. That is when they will need the better paying jobs.

I guess this will give the govt some more time to do it.

Astro
said

Now is the time to sell your business. People who work for others are now begining to realize that self employment is way better than slaving away for some a$$ hole boss, oil company or car manufacturer. You control your own destiny while self employed - I myself am in my thirties and have not worked for anyone in my adult life. Granted their are people out there who cannot rub two rocks together on their own.

JB in Calgary
said

@ RedX

Still negative people showing numbers from a year ago. Look at the entire graph on the TSX, as far back as it will go. A year ago the economy was overinflated and finally it has corrected itself. 10,000 on the TSX is exactly where we should be from the 25 year trend.

8.1% unemployment is still within the natural rate for Canada.

Get off the pot people, Economists base everything on Theory and Trends. It's not like viewing an apple falling from a tree and figuring out that objects fall at a constant 9.81m/s. Things flucuate life flucuates nobody can know exactly what is going to happen.

But I will have everybody note that Harper said from the beginning that Canada is fine and that we will recover faster than anybody else. Hmmm...Maybe Harper does know what's going on hey?

George Lawrence from Thunder Bay ON
said

What are the doomsayers Mr ignatieff.Mr Layton and Mr Duceppe going to say now? The recession is obviously not over but this is good news. Call it what you may but the fact remains It's a increase in the number of jobs created. A start.a good start.Perhaps on Mondays question period the opposition might wish to zipper it up(Their negative and doomnsayer mouths for a change) and start working with the government and not against it by their doomsayer ramblings.This recession MAY end a lot sooner that SOME in this country might wish Let's hope so.If for no other reason that to stop mR Ignatieffs opening question Canada has lost 250,000 jobs last month blah blah . NO sir Canada GAINED some 35.000 jobs last month. One small step for recovey of the Canadian economy.Good news indeed.

Andr� in Ontario
said

@ Ed in Toronto
I'm sure that you have had some success stories but lets get serious but what is actually going on here. Seasonal workers are the jobs that are out there & paying minimum wages at best & as you may know as a accountant that most self employed make little or no money in the beginning & most fail. I'm sure you want to make these number seem substantial but if you look at past recessions there has been several up ticks in jobs & several months again of job losses. Congratulations to you & your wife on creating you own business & hope it continues for you.

Dave from Toronto
said

The unemployed became self employed? Did any of them actually earn money? I know some "self-employed" people who do not earn much...like the guy on the corner who I put a twoonie in his cup once in awhile.

Frank (Toronto)
said

There's just no pleasing some people.
Make no mistake, this is a good news story. Lets just take it as that. It's been nothing but doom and gloom ever since the pre-recession stock market correction that had the lefty media and opposition crying "the sky is falling!!!"
Look, this unemployment report (seasonally adjusted by the way, meaning it's numbers are a true reflection of what's happening in the economy at this time)by no means indicates Canada is out of the woods. But it may well mean Ottawa's stimulus plan is just beginning to take effect. Let's wait and see what happens over the next few months before we start throwing more borrowed money out the door as the opposition is already demanding.
If this report proves to be nothing but a blip on the screen, then lets just be greatful for the refreshing break from "doom and gloom".

NBOntario
said

Right on, Ed, Toronto, Calvin, and other Self-Employed individuals. when I took a Self-Employment Assistance course 1 1yrs ago, the professor said in 10 years 40% of the workforce will be self-employed. My husband and I each have our own home-based business and are doing very well. Sure, long hours with no union-initiated overtime premium, but there is the pride of accomplishment, not just punching a clock. This lifestyle requires creativity but the flexibility of putting the kids on the bus and greeting them at 4:30, ability to help our parents, and so many others I won't list here makes it all worthwhile. And no commute!!! the giant dinosaurs are dying, individual initiative and community collaboration are the way of the future!

Maureen
said

Sorry for the good news - the MSM only wants to have doom and gloom stories because they can feed off of those kind of stories. I've been self-employed since the Liberals government 'balanced the budget' by downloading costs to provinces who had to in turn cut programs. And for 15 years I have been doing great - making more money than I ever would if I stayed at the job that was cut, more interesting projects and more flexible time and the big bonus is not having to deal with the office politics. Yes there are people who should never be self-employed because they are unwilling to take chances, but for those who take the plunge and do it with purpose - it will work out well. But I do understand that it is hard for the media and economists to get their heads around self-employment so therefore it must be bad.

So I Sez
said

Let's wait until after June 1 when 100,000 autoworkers go on permanent layoff.Figures lie and liars figure.We're becoming a nation of burger flippers.

Canadian Scot
said

Do these figures include all the people who have been laid off on an extended salary package? I was laid off in January but am not registered as un employed because of this. I know of many others.

Is this a case of "lies, bloody lies and statistics"?

Wendy
said

Spring is here!
Spring cleaning, cutting grass nothing substantial.
No jobs created by the government?
This article only tells us that the lame duck Harper government has done absolutely nothing in creating jobs.

Spenc from BC
said

We could have added 100,000 jobs and the Libs out there would find a problem with it and a way to spin it negatively. Next month when the May figures come out the gains will be solely attributed to student employment and dismissed. They just cant admit that we have been steered through the Charybdis of depression and the Scylla of the financial collapse of our banks with a steady hand and wisdom. People will never be satisfied.

Darren
said

Another perfect example of how pathetic economists are at predicting economic indicators. It is these same economists who are rsponsible for the negative forecasting and instilling fear.

Ed, Toronto
said

"Nothing substantial", says Andre in Ontario. "Cutting grass". "Spring cleanup".

When my wife was downsized back in the late 80's, she started her own professional accounting practice. When I got downsized about six years later (after 23 years in an office), I joined her, as the business had grown to be too much for one person. Most of our clients were self-employed computer consultants, with a denturist, a toxic waste cleaner-upper, a professional engineer, a psychologist, a lawyer, etc. All made a good living and had absolutely no desire to work for a company. Most (including ourselves) worked from home most of the time, creating zero pollution or road congestion going to and from work. The flexibility allowed my wife the ability to care for her elderly parents when needed.

It's interesting how some people can't seem to visualize any other way of working except for some big company whom they see as the enemy to form a union and strike against. If more people took responsibility and worked for themselves instead of demanding that others take care of them, this would be a far stronger country.

Easterner
said

Of course! Seasonal jobs are all getting back on line and the others are going on wellfare after their UI ran out!Of course that shifts the UI's numbers! That doesn't mean anuthing!!Just that less people are on UI!How about giving the wellfare numbers too so this is not so biased and misleading?
Do they really think we are that naive!?Oh, wait, by the comments on here, I think they have a case....

Dave from NB - On the way to self sufficiency
said

Many of the job increases are for seasonal workers. It is that time of year when provinces gear up for a busy season of repairing what the winter caused and also new infastructure projects. When the plants close down in the fall, the jobless rate will increase by as much as it increased in the spring. It is not a prediction, that is just the way it is. Note that the employment figures for the older worker has increased almost 1%. That is due to the cost of living and they can't afford to retire any more plus they are a more content workforce not looking for the Big Bucks. Here in out province the summer employment will not see that much of an increase because we are spending our monies on the refurbishment of a bridge. I would give you the name of the bridge but we have enough people standing around as it is. With the government we have, we have been told we are going to be self sufficient real soon. It is costing a lot but they say we need it. If you want a government job you have to be bilingual so none of the locals can get the job and therefore, our unemployment figures never change. Bonjour

Asad Burlington
said

We need job cuts to the Ontario Government half off them are over paid lazy counsellors for people to talk to about everything.
Less talk and more action. Cut my taxes and let prople who produce something get my money instead of the Government.

Alan in Kitchener
said

Oh yeah, sure. Big recovery. The guy who used to work in manufacturing for 20$/hr is now working in a McDonalds or Sobeys for 9.50/hr. Give me a break.

RedX
said

April 2008, Unemployment was 6.1%, the TSX 14,000 plus
Today, Unemployment is 8.0%, the TSX 9,967.05
Harper is an Economist?!

Tom in London
said

Economist predictions are always correct, especially after the numbers come out.
I'm sure the media will find a negative somewhere they can blow out of proportion, afterall the only news should be doom and gloom.

AJW-Ontario
said

Don't forget Construction season is beginning so probably half of those people are in this industry.

The other half would probably be the low-paying jobs created for university and college students as well.

Andr� in Ontario
said

Wow, a few jobs. Lets get serious. These are jobs that are being made up of people cutting grass, spring clean up pick ups nothing substantial. I see Harperites & his cabinet are up blogging instead of doing there jobs. What a surprise. They see that they are headed to the unemployment like many Canadians are & they've done nothing for the unemployed accept lip service & saying everything will be fine. That's true, everything will be fine, the Cons & Harper are going going gone real soon & in my opinion not soon enough. His mishandling of Canada in all aspects is an embarrassment. Canada's economy won't get better till the major mess of the US gets there act together & all sign show that it's not coming anytime soon. So Harper keep delivering your resume around the world because you won't ever get a job in this country.

Prof. Pye Chartt
said

OUR APOLOGIES

To the quasi-informed, grossly misinformed crowd of regular posters who gleefully propagate doom and gloom while forecasting the end of Life as we know it, and the prescriptive cure of a New World Order in which "free-market" capitalism is dead and the socioeconomic engineering of government reigns supreme...

Sorry for the good news.

P.S. Rest assured, however, that your frantic political heroes still have ample opportunity to screw up any ongoing advancements.

Calvin - Self employed Busy & Happy
said

I am self employed and love the freedom and being my own boss, I don't pay union dues, to stike every three years wiping out my raise, I don't pay for a sick policy that keeps my co-workers home 19 days a year. I get to depreciate my new Ford F150, write off my meals as entertainment expenses. I am in home renovations putting some lipstick on old houses with the new renovation expenses I am busy. I am making a couple of old houses with Character look pretty damn good unlike the double garge appearance of Toronto, with smile in their wood doors from them starting to sag.
Anybody that wants to work can work. Maybe 4% of the population is lazy and got sent home because they don't work hard enough or are completely undependable or what to be in customer service but have rings hanging out of thier noses.
Ei premiems just means our products cost more than Chinas causing unemployment, forget looking for hand outs and get to work.

terri
said

Don't we lose jobs in January, February and start getting more jobs in the spring. I don't know but I wish someone would have a positive outlook for a change. Mind you it is good to vent, I can tell by reading these blogs. Or is that whine or snivel. Not sure sometimes.

Fredhu in Mtl
said

Well I must say this is good news. I live in Montreal and I did notice a lot more cars on the road and traffic slowdowns since after Easter. This "extra" traffic was not caused by road construction, at least on the highways I take daily (luckily for me this year...)
What a difference compared to the last few months when there was no traffic at all.

Turns out our province has added 22,000 jobs in April.

Let's just hope we have hit the bottom of this recession and from now on things will slowly start to improve, like some economists are saying. The thing is this will be a very long recovery.

Hopefully May's numbers will confirm the positive trend. We all need some good news for a change :)

Cheers!

Chris in Kingston
said

What, no anti-Harper messages about how he's destroying the economy? Seems to me like the PM's careful and directed strategy is sorting out the economy faster than even the experts expected.

Sheriff Joe from Kelowna
said

Dialogue? Dialogue? The time for dialogue was over 3 months ago when Canada finally recognized that there was a recession on. Hello McFly! It's time for job creation, special projects to help natives help themselves, time to clean up the pine beetle carnage, time to re-plant B.C's barren mountainsides, time to re-build our crumbling infrastructure, time to reduce taxes and put some spending money back in the hands or ordinary Canadians. Time to question why we pay GST and PST on every car purchase, new and used. (might stimulate auto sales if one or both were reduced) Time to get our prison population out cleaning highway roadsides, national and provincial parks, waterways, community projects etc etc. (and pay them a decent wage) Time to bring a new hockey team to Hamilton. The time for action is now, not 6 months from now.

Rick in SK
said

I'm self employed and I make a very good living, one contract at a time. Since I started working for myself 5 years ago I have hardly had a minute's rest and I have not noticed any slow down in my work since the start of this down turn.

All in all this is a good news story.

A Koster - BC
said

"Yes, there were distortions including the heavy influence of a gain in self-employment that we mistrust at this point in the cycle" says ScotiaCapital Inc.

Well Good News?.. I'm not sure that you understand the meaning of "distortion" or "mistrust", and maybe just maybe the article downplays it because, while they are committed to reporting these stats, they know it's a load of bunk. That's called responsible journalism in my books.

Larry I ontario
said

about one million people have lost jobs since Jan. I hardly think 36000 jobs is a boom! with gas prices rapidly on the rise any uptick in the economy will now be destroyed by the greedy blood sucking oil companies. why does are government put controls on them like the greedy credit card companies? This is far from a good news picture!!!!!

Eyes Wide Open
said

Now maybe people will start to realize that the sky is NOT falling. The Conservative ARE doing a great job. If it would have been up to the stooges (including Iggy), we'd be billions more in debt, and our taxes would be going through the roof.
The economy is now starting to rise once again. Let's just hope that Canadians truly see that the Liberals and NDP are all about scare tactics and fear mongering. The double standard in this country is sickening.

Tyler Calgary - Liberals want Liberal Policy Gone?
said

I'm confused, things keep getting better and the Liberals want to bring the government down if the Conservatives keep the Liberals policy on EI. Why didn't they bring themselves down on this?

-_-
said

sounds to me like the reflection of the seasons... most post-secondary students are not in school now.

Steve M
said

Isn't this just great.Thousands upon thousands of people here in Canada are unemployed and out of work and the oil company's are raising gas prices again.I guess the greed is never ending.When will our government put a stop to these greedy oil company's, who could care less about average working people. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Nancy: NS Choose Tory Good times or Left Behind
said

Nova Scotia has a Minority Conservative Govenrnment and when the Govenment was going to bring in a surplus, the NDP and Liberals had to pull the plug. They hate profit and want to get in their and raise taxes and send more jobs else where. Problem is when the NDP and Liberals tax the jobs away after awhile there is not much money for social programs as the profits ands wages shared in taxes pay for all the social programs. It usually takes 10 yrs to clean up an NDP mess because on top of getting everybody unemployed at home on a social program they get the unions so strong that they will finish off any business their taxes don't get. Then they want communal ownership of everything like a Hutterite colony. Nova Scotia is having an election they can have a Tory Times are Good times government or go to the left and be left behind.

Gord. Robson, Nova Scotia
said

35,900 NEW JOBS!! GREAT POSITIVE NEWS!

Too much doom and gloom and now some people do NOT want to believe something good.

I welcome this news! Our government is doing a GOOD job, we need to support them!

Nancy: Canada number one
said

The booster of the infastructure dollars have not even hit yet.
The Liberals sounded a lot like Suzuki the end is near and all that. The last recession in the dirty 30's mostly only the men worked so we had 50% unemployment with women staying home. Now we have what 94% employment. Don't forget a lot of people also work in the underground economy under the table while receiving EI or some other social program. Sometimes people pay Nannys under the table too.
When I see what the Provincial Liberal Govenment did to the car industry and adding $300. for every a green report on every house sale to learn a new furnance would use less guess it is no Surprize Ontario accounts for most of the weak job numbers. Times are still pretty good, just quit listenting to the dooms day liberals.

Barb - Ottawa
said

Statscan is just not some crack pot government agency working for the Tories. Our stats our sound. A job is a job and someone making income is just that. If anything during downturns the underground economy picks up and we underreport Real employment.

Good News
said

Wow awesome news that this article tries to downplay. Why? This is awesome news. The bleeding of jobs has stopped!. Guess it is just too hard for people to admit that maybe this country is doing something right!

Tommies
said

Not what topic are the opposition going to skip to?

Andrew Moffat
said

The economy has been in trouble for some time now. That means that people have been unemployed long enough to be taken off unemployment insurance benefits. Since there are no jobs these people become "independant business people" (contractors looking for work - a contract at a time). However since independant business owners are not eligible for unemployment insurance their numbers are no longer included in the unemployment numbers....

The government may be trying to stimulate the economy by issuing good news stories...

Or;

As I believe; they are trying to miss-direct the Canadian people so that we will not question the government's bungling of the cash injections to stimulate the economy.

Until we can admit we have a problem...we will not be able to properly deal with the issues.

We need a national dialogue. If recent evolutions in the web have demonstrated anything..it is that great ideas can come from the most unlikely places. A national dialogue moderated by CTV/Canada AM could facilitate a collaborative (public/private sector)solution to the current situation.