The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Industry, Economic Development and Mines Minister Jim Rondeau Friday welcomed Statistics Canada's labour force statistics showing 1,200 new jobs were created in Manitoba during the month of October. "With this being the third consecutive month of employment gains, we are seeing a positive trend that has resulted in 8,200 new jobs," Rondeau said. Manitoba saw employment growth of 1.5 per cent compared to Canada's 1.2 per cent over the first 10 months of 2004. Since the start of the year, Manitoba labour force growth has also increased considerably more than the national level at 1.6 per cent compared to 0.9 per cent. During October 2004, total employment rose 0.2 per cent from 577,800 to 579,000 at the same rate as the national level. The new labour force statistics indicate Manitoba still has the second lowest unemployment rate in the country at 5.1 per cent. This is two points below the national rate of 7.1 per cent. Manitoba's youth unemployment rate was the third lowest in the country at 11.8 per cent and well below the national rate of 13.4 per cent. Manitoba also recorded the largest increase in building permits in Canada between September 2003 and September 2004 at a rate of 43.2 per cent. Statistics Canada notes an increased demand for commercial permits, especially for laboratories and office buildings.
