Earnings Up, But Employment Down
Today’s payroll figures indicate that, while average weekly earnings rose, the number of employees on Canadian payrolls declined by 22,100 in March.
This decline was concentrated in Quebec, where payroll employment fell by 20,900. Ontario also suffered a decline of 9,200, which was partly offset by gains of 3,300 in Manitoba and 1,900 in Nova Scotia as well as smaller increases in most other provinces.
Despite strong employment growth in Manitoba and Nova Scotia in March, Canada’s job market remains weak.
Letter in Vancouver Sun, May 30, 2013
Canadian economy needs more government spending
Re: Carney praises Canadian economy but warns of ‘a tougher world,’ May 21
According to Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, Canada cannot continue to rely on household spending to lift its economy, and he has previously warned that Canadians are carrying too much debt.
Carney has also criticized domestic businesses for sitting on “dead money” rather than investing, even though domestic demand is slowing.
Carney hopes for greater exports but that is wishful thinking since other economies are importing less under austerity regimes that depress their economies.
There is only one other source for increasing domestic aggregate demand: federal government budget deficits. And these are just as sustainable as they were during the Second World War when Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio was over three times what it is today.
In recommending an export-led recovery with government budget consolidation, Carney is parroting the European prescription which has led to higher unemployment, higher social service payments, higher government debt, more cutbacks, more depressed businesses, and more joblessness in a vicious downward spiral.
For those dependent on diminishing Employment Insurance payments rather than corporate bailout packages or liquidity injections courtesy of the Bank of Canada, it is indeed “a tougher world.”
Larry Kazdan Vancouver
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