Both the number and quality of new jobs in Canada is on the decline, according to a new report from CIBC World Markets that warns the country's job market is perhaps the worst it has ever been during non-recession periods.

According to the bank, Canada's employment quality index fell by one per cent over the last year, due to both sluggish job creation late in 2011 and worsening job quality in the national labour market.

Report author Benjamin Tal of CIBC World Markets said among other negative effects, a falling employment quality index puts pressure on Canadians' wallets.

"With both quantity and quality of employment falling in tandem, it is hardly a surprise that real disposable income was unchanged in the first three quarters of 2011 -- the worst showing in fifteen years," Tal wrote.

The bank measures job quality by looking at three factors: the ratio of part-time to full-time jobs, levels of paid employment compared to self-employment and salaries for full-time work.

The report found that despite a swift pace of job creation in the first half of 2011, the creation of new jobs essentially ground to a halt in the last six months of the year.

Statistics Canada data released earlier this month found that although December saw a modest uptick of 17,500 jobs, the last three months of the year saw an overall loss of 55,000 jobs.

Canada's unemployment rate also rose for the third month in a row, to 7.5 per cent, Statistics Canada said.

Overall, though, full-time employment rose by 1.5 per cent in 2011, while part-time employment dropped 0.3 per cent, "a positive factor in terms of overall employment quality," Tal wrote.

However, the number of self-employed Canadians was up by two per cent, double the number of Canadians who found paid employment. A jump in self-employment figures reduces overall employment quality, the report said, because a self-employed worker earns on average between 10 and 15 per cent less than a regular employee.

The number of high-paying full-time positions rose by only 0.4 per cent in 2011, a mere quarter of the rate of low-paying jobs.

Low-paying jobs in hospitality and restaurant services, wood and miscellaneous manufacturing, and personal care were all on the rise. High-paying jobs in public administration, transportation and mining, as well as chemical, computer and electronic, and petroleum and coal manufacturing experienced a net loss last year.

Tal told The Canadian Press the picture is not all bad, given that more than 600,000 jobs have been created since the recession of 2008-09. That's more than were lost during the downturn and a stronger showing than many other countries.

But according to Tal, the outlook for 2012 is less than rosy. Employment quality "will remain subdued," he wrote, largely basing his forecast on two factors. First is the number of construction jobs, which jumped 3.5 per cent in 2011, and will level off when the housing market cools as many economists predict it will in 2012.

"Furthermore, public sector employment is already starting to fall," Tal said, "and the likelihood is that overall employment in that sector will continue to fall in 2012 -- a significant potential negative to overall employment quality."