Employment

By December 2002, 560,000 jobs were created, an increase of 3.7% from December 2001. Firms in most industries were hiring in 2002, but the largest gain came in the manufacturing sector, especially in food and machinery production.

Growth in both full- and part-time employment was considerable in 2002. Part-time work increased by 8.1% (223,000 jobs) with a third of the increase coming from the retail and wholesale trade and accommodation and food industries. All of the increase in manufacturing and construction employment came in the form of full-time work, helping push full-time up 2.7% (336,000 jobs).

Employment increased in almost every province in 2002, but almost two-thirds of the gains were in Ontario and Quebec. In Ontario, employment increased by 3.3% (196,000 jobs), much of growth occurring in Toronto. In Quebec, employment ended the year with an increase of 4.8% (168,000 jobs), making it the best year on record. Almost two thirds of the gains in Quebec occurred in Montréal, where employment jumped by 6.4% (108,000 jobs). Other provinces that experienced significant gains were British Columbia (4.2%), Alberta (3.9%), Saskatchewan (5.5%) and New Brunswick (3.9%).

By December 2002, the unemployment rate fell to 7.1% from 7.6% in December 2001. However, due to fluctuations throughout the year where unemployment reached a high of 8.6% in January and a low of 6.9% in October, the average annual unemployment rate for 2002 actually increased to 7.7% from 7.2% in 2001. For 2002 as a whole, the unemployment rate ranged from a high of 16.9% in Newfoundland and Labrador to a low of 5.2% in Manitoba.