Wednesday, July 20, 2011

BC Employment by Sector

Below are some graphs highlighting BC's employment over the past 15 years in various sectors, first the goods producing sectors' contribution as a percentage of total employment:

In the goods-producing sector there has been a steady erosion of manufacturing jobs and a steady increase in construction jobs. The recession of 2008-2009 knocked down the number of construction jobs but they still remain elevated compared to previous levels as a percentage of workforce.


On the service side, two items should be of interest, first that health care and educational services are at the top of their ranges. Public administration had been declining until about 2008 and has been increasing since 2010.

Looking at the change in nominal employment year-over-year for real estate and resource-related sectors, first from 1996 to 2003:

Then from 2004 to 2010:

The graphs have been broken up at this level because before 2004 Vancouver was not in a house price bubble as measured by prices compared to incomes and rents. In 2004, construction employment started increasing significantly year-over-year. In 2009 there were significant layoffs across the board, borne mostly by construction but also in the accommodation and food services, transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, and building/business services.

Another measure is how various sectors compare relative to their average percentage contribution. Think of this graph as how far a sector's employment contribution deviates from its 15-year historical average. The higher the number the greater the share the sector contributes, the lower the number, the less.


Construction has remained a significant and above-average contributor to the provincial economy through the recession, ebbing only slightly since 2008, and well above its long-term average. Drilling into other sectors, the two prominent areas showing above-average contribution:
Just so we are all clear where post-recessionary employment contributions have been concentrated.

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