Out of Work

Punditman says...

I am closing this blog for now. I lost my "real" job yesterday. With a tinge of unintended irony, the hammer came down on my head eighty years to the day after the crash of 1929. That is to say, my main client for whom I have worked for four and a half years suddenly laid off a whole bunch of folk: consultants, editors and the like. Thus I have no spare time to dedicate to this blog, as finding work takes precedence.

If you know of anything that you think may suit, (even if you don't know me), please use the comments section or email me here: wayne@editme.ca

I am open to all ideas, locally, or in a telecommuting sense.

Thanks.

(Peacenik, who still has a real job, may in future, be found somewhere in the blogosphere, espousing his witty, intelligent, doom-filled musings. We will keep you posted as to his landing spot, should this occur.)

Stunning job losses mean EI must be improved

2009-02-06 14:26

Georgetti says situation is urgent

OTTAWA - The Canadian Labour Congress has responded to news that Canada lost 129,000 jobs in January with a renewed call for the federal government to make urgently-needed improvements to the Employment Insurance program.

"This is stunning," says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. "It's an economic tsunami for Canadian workers and there's more to come. We have now lost 213,000 good full-time jobs in the past three months and the unemployment rate is at 7.2 percent."

Georgetti says many laid-off workers and their families will be left out in the cold because governments have changed the rules for EI, making it harder to qualify and chopping the benefits for those who do.

"The effects of the government's economic stimulus package won't kick in for months but workers who are innocent victims of this recession need help right now," says Georgetti.

He says that workers and their unions are going to keep the pressure on the government to improve the EI program. "People have paid their premiums believing that they would receive their insurance when they find themselves unemployed. Rainy day funds are supposed to be there for rainy days."

Analysis of Senior Economist, Sylvain Schetagne

Unprecedented deterioration of the labour market is confirmed.

Canada lost 129,000 jobs in January 2009, a deterioration well beyond anything seen in the past three decades.

About a quarter of a million full and part-time jobs (234,000) have been lost in the past three months. Canada is now back to levels of employment experienced 15 months ago, in October 2007.

The unemployment rate increased by 0.6% in January to 7.2%, up sharply from 6.6% in December. The unemployment rate is back to where it was about five years ago. It would have been even higher if 29,000 workers had not left the labour market last month.

Most of the jobs lost were full-time (114,000), but many part-time jobs (15,100) were lost in January as well. The biggest job loss occurred in Ontario (71,000), British Columbia (35,000) and Quebec (26,000).

Jobs were lost in both the public and private sectors. The majority of sectors experienced a decline in their level of employment in January, with a significant decrease concentrated in manufacturing (100,900).

Canada now has 1,310,100 unemployed, an increase of 100,000 newly- unemployed people in January alone.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca

Contacts:

Sylvain Schetagne, Senior Economist, 613-526-7412
Dennis Gruending, Communications, 613-526-7431, and 613-878-6040

09-02-06LbrForceSurveyEng.pdf