This morning Statistics Canada released–as it does on the first Friday of every month–estimates of employment and unemployment for the previous month.
As usual the headline number is the change in the number of employed, and the Agency’s press release announces that “Following two months of declines, employment rose slightly in December, up 18,000.”
But this masks as much as it reveals.
Continue reading “Facts about the labour market, the hidden and the missing”
“Jobs and Growth the Priorities as Minister Flaherty Hosts Pre-Budget Consultations”, screams the title of a press release from the Department of Finance issued about a month ago.
Jim Flaherty wants to hear from Canadians about how he can maintain the federal government’s “focus on jobs and economic growth while reducing the deficit.”
But this week is a particularly good time to first pose a few questions to him in the hope of clarifying some facts about jobs, unemployment, and the role of government policy.
Continue reading “Three questions to ask the Minister of Finance”
Economics for public policy 