By Andrea Davis

The Canadian job market seems to be recovering. Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey reported that employment increased by 27,000 in August 2009. The biggest gains were in part-time work where employment rose by 31,000, and the private sector, in which jobs increased by 49,000. According to the report, full-time work has dropped by 486,000 (-3.5%) since October 2008. However, taking into account the increase in the number of jobs in the part time sector of 99,000 (+3.1%), total employment has fallen by 387,000 (-2.3%).

Perhaps most encouraging is the fact that employment in Canada has fallen by only 31,000 over the last five months, compared to 357,000 during the five months following October 2008. Although it’s going to take some time before the job market really picks, up the trend is positive and it appears that the worst is over.

Industries such as retail, wholesale, finance, insurance, real estate and leasing saw increases in the number of jobs in August. The greatest job increases were in retail and wholesale trade, followed by finance, insurance, real estate and leasing. Employment also increased in most service industries. However, total job gains were reduced in part by losses in certain services, including business, building, educational and other support services. The manufacturing sector continued to lose jobs in August while construction was up slightly. According to the report, “employment in construction has stabilized.

Employment was up in most provinces. Manitoba’s employment was up but the unemployment rate edged up to 5.7% as more people participated in the job market. Employment was also up In Newfoundland and Labrador, and the unemployment rate fell 1.5 percentage points to 15.6%. Employment in Ontario increased slightly as it did in July. There wasn’t much change in Quebec’s employment numbers in August. Saskatchewan showed a “notable decline” in jobs, according to the report.

Despite the apparent improvements in the Canadian job market, if you’re looking for a job right now, career opportunities probably don’t seem to be plentiful. I believe, however, that the August job numbers are the beginning of a positive trend. While it may take time to recover, it’s clear that that the recovery in the Canadian job market has begun. Although we shouldn’t read too much into a one month report, it’s encouraging that the upturn in the job market isn’t limited to a small number of industries and that several provinces saw improvements.

Andrea writes for FoundCareer, the totally free job site that’s unlike other job web sites. No fees to post jobs and no subscription fees to search jobs.

Need more career advice like how to negotiate a job offer letter? Read Andrea’s article The Job offer Letter – How to Negotiate a Job Offer Letter.

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