Employment quality in Canada deteriorated last year as more people moved into self-employment and the composition of the labour market tilted towards lower-paying positions, a new report says.
Canada's labour market was lopsided last year, with virtually all of the country's job growth in the first half of the year. The pace slowed considerably in the last six months, and the quality of work worsened, notes CIBC in its employment quality index.
“The impact of a softening pace of job creation is exacerbated by a worsening level of job quality in the Canadian labour market,” the bank's economists say in their analysis to be released Wednesday.
That double-whammy hit the pocketbooks of Canadians. As both the quantity and quality of employment fell, “it is hardly a surprise that real disposable income was unchanged in the first three quarters of 2011 -- the worst showing in fifteen years,” they said.
While the index is well above levels through the recession, it has fallen by more than one percentage point in the past year.
The bank's index incorporates three measures: full-time versus part-time work; the mix of paid and self-employment, and wages among full-time jobs.