Core Target 3: Employment Rate
Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison |
| Core Target Three is the percent of the population (aged 15 to 64) that is employed. The higher the employment rate, the better the rank. |
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| In 2010, BC’s employment rate ranked seventh in Canada, down from fourth in 2009. Quebec surpassed BC to move into fourth place while only one-tenth of one percentage point separated BC from fifth-place Ontario and sixth-place Prince Edward Island. |
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Best and Worst Performers |
| Provincial employment rates have recently occupied three distinct bands. Together, the top three provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba averaged 75 percent over the last two decades – none of which dropped below 71 percent. Newfoundland and Labrador’s employment rate has consistently been well below all other provinces and has ranged from a low of 48.4 percent in 1996 to a high of 60.8 percent in 2010. Although BC and Ontario were closer to the top than the bottom for much of the 1990s they, coupled with Quebec and the Maritimes, have occupied a narrow band between the top and bottom extremes since the mid-2000s. |
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| BC’s employment rate declined in five of ten years between 1990 and 2000 and its rate dropped from 71.2 in 1990 to 70.1 percent in 2000. Similarly, BC’s rate fell in four of ten years in the last decade but 2010’s 70.7 percent was slightly higher than in 2000. BC had strong employment growth starting in 1999 but endured large setbacks early and late in the last decade. Canada had solid gains from 1997 through 2000 followed by moderate gains until 2009. |
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North American Comparison |
| BC ranked 55th of 61 jurisdictions in North America in 2010. All five highest-ranked jurisdictions in 2010 were located in the north-eastern United States. Except for Alberta, which placed 37th, the bottom positions were all occupied by provinces. |
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| BC’s real personal disposable income per capita was roughly $5,000 above lowest-ranked Prince Edward Island, $3,400 below the lowest-ranked state, Mississippi, and $38,000 below first-place District of Columbia. |
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| Since 1990, BC has ranked as high as 50th (in 1990) and as low as 55th (2008 through 2010). |
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International Comparison |
| BC has consistently had high employment relative to OECD countries. In 2010, BC ranked twelfth out of 34 jurisdictions in the employment to population ratio, down from eleventh in 2009. BC has ranked as high as seventh in the early 1990s and as low as thirteenth in 2001. |
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| In 2010, BC’s rate was 24 percentage points above bottom-ranked Turkey, 5.9 above the OECD average, and 8.2 below top-ranked Iceland. Canada ranked tenth out of 34 jurisdictions in 2010 with an employment rate of 71.5 percent, unchanged from last year. |
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Why It's Important
Real personal disposable income per capita gives an indication of a person’s spending power and standard of living. It is income, less income taxes, CPP and EI contributions and fees, such as medical insurance premiums. |
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