Out of School -- Into the Labour Force

Publisher:  Education, Science and Culture Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Year Published:  1978
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX851

A report on the trends involving newly graduated people seeking jobs in Canada.

Abstract: 
The focus of the report is on those who leave school and their relationship to the labour market. Being analytical in nature, the report does not attempt to answer the difficult question of what adjustments are possible and/or necessary in either the education system or the labour market. The aim is simply to bring the issues into sharper focus for the benefit of planners, policymakers and the public. The projection extends from 1976 to 1986, although trends to 2001 are outlined, and earlier data are occasionally cited.
The authors state that rapid labour force expansion, combined with a recent slowdown in the rate of job creation, has contributed to current high unemployment: 8.1% in 1977. At the same time, an international comparison shows that during the 1970's, Canada has had the highest rate of job creation of major western industrialized countries. For example, between 1970 and 1976, employment increased 20.9% in Canada, 11.3% in the United States, 9.5% in Australia, 6.1% in Sweden and 2.3% in France.
In the long term, the declining birth rate in the 1960's is expected to manifest itself in the labour market as it has already done in the elementary school enrolment. The authors note that young job-seekers are currently numerous, and hence it may be the late 1980's before their ranks drop to a level that can be readily absorbed, even by an expanding economy.