Structural Imbalances in Canadian Labor Markets

Abstract

The nature of structural imbalances in the Canadian Labor market is identified by analyzing the relationship between unemployment and job vacancies. Three potential sources of imbalances are examined: (1) the regional nature of the Canadian economy; (2) the rise in the incidence of long-term unemployment (of 12 months or more); and (3) differences in the rate of growth of unemployment across industrial sectors. The major findings are: growing structural imbalances; an increase in long-term unemployment was the major cause of the shift in most cases; both inter-and intraregional effects played a significant role, but interregional disparities were the dominant factor; and the dispersion in employment growth rates across industrial sectors did not seem to play a role.