Employment in December was virtually unchanged from November. The unemployment rate was 6.6%, the same as in November. Construction employment was up 0.9% from November while manufacturing employment was down 1.0% from a month earlier.
In December, employment stood at 18.0 million, up 1.0% from December 2013. Full-time employment grew by 53,500 from November, while part-time employment decreased by 57,700 from the previous month. Full-time employment was up by 190,300 from December 2013, while part-time declined by 4,500 over the same period.
Employment over the past year grew in six provinces. Alberta (+2.9%), Saskatchewan (+2.7%) and Manitoba (+2.1%) led the way. The employment growth rate in Ontario was +1.2%. Employment from a year earlier was down most in Newfoundland and Labrador (-2.2%) followed by New Brunswick (-1,2%) and Nova Scotia and Quebec, both at -0.4%.
Total employment gains of 79,900 have occurred in Ontario since December 2013. Its unemployment rate was 7.0% in December, unchanged from December. Quebec’s total employment decrease since December 2013 was 15,800. Its unemployment rate in December was 7.5%, down from 7.6% in November.
Since December 2013, employment in the goods-producing sector increased by 2.1% and in the services-producing sector grew by 0.8%.
The construction industry gained 12,600 jobs in December over November bringing total construction employment to 1,363,100, which is an increase of 68,700 construction job (+5.3%) from December 2013. Total manufacturing employment was down 18,300 from November to 1,734,300 jobs. That was a loss of 11,500 positions (-0.7%) since December 2013.
The number of people working in retail and wholesale trade was up 10,500 in December from November and totaled 2,707,800. That was a gain of 0.4% from December 2013.
Employment among adult women, aged 25 and over, was down 4,300 in December 2014 over December 2013 and decreased by 27,900 from November. Their unemployment rate was 5.2%. Employment among adult men was up 127,400 in December 2014 over December 2013 and grew by 26,800 from November. Their unemployment rate was 5.7%. Employment among youths (15-24 years of age) was up by 62,500 since December 2013, but fell by 3,300 from November. Their unemployment rate was 13.3%.
In December, private sector employment was up 5,100 from November, and grew by 97,100 from December 2013. Self-employment fell 14,900 in December over November, but increased 54,600 from December 2013. Public sector employment was up 0.2% in December from November and grew by 0.9% from November 2013. Total private sector employment in December was 11,574,400; self-employment was 2,722,800; and public sector employment was 3,656,300.