How are Aboriginal people faring since the economic downturn that began in 2008? Statistic Canada’s study titled Aboriginal people and the labour market, released last month, sheds light on the issue.
Between 2008 and 2001, employment fell further and over a longer period among Aboriginal people than in the non-Aboriginal workforce. This was true for all age groups. Employment fell by 2.8% (-7,300) in 2009 and by 4.9% (-12,400) in 2010 in the core-aged working population of 25 to 54 years old. The drop for non-Aboriginal workers in terms of percentage was less significant; employment fell by 1.7% (-198,000) in 2009 before rebounding by 0.8% (+93,000) in 2010.
During the same period, the gap between the two populations widened in terms of participation rates, as well as rates of employment and unemployment. In 2010, for instance, the participation rate for core-aged Aboriginal workers was 75%, compared to 86.7% for their non-Aboriginal counterparts—the largest gap in four years. In addition, Aboriginal men in this age group did less well than their female counterparts. Their participation rate fell 4.5 points to 80.4% while that for Aboriginal women fell 1.2 points to 70%.
The studied also showed differences by province. Quebec suffered the largest drop in Aboriginal employment in two years, followed by British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta, to settle at 61.1% in Quebec and 62.7% in British Columbia. The job losses were mainly in transport and equipment, sales and services, and occupations in processing, manufacturing and utilities.
Young people more affected
More Aboriginal people held more than one job in 2010 than in 2008, a sign of greater job insecurity, and a greater proportion were in a temporary job. Young people aged 15 to 24 were particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. The participation rate for Aboriginal young people fell by 5.0 points to 57.0%. As fewer participated in the labour force, however, more Aboriginal youth were attending school, especially in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. Finally, participation rates also fell among older Aboriginal workers aged 55 and older. Their rate in 2010 was 34.6%, down 1.4 points from 2008. In contrast, the rate for older non-Aboriginal workers increased by 1.7 points to 36.0%.