Quebec sees better job growth in 2010: Report

But manufacturing job loss was 6.1 per cent

Quebec saw better job growth in 2010 than the rest of Canada, according to a report released by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.

Last year, the province generated 66,700 jobs — a rate of 1.7 per cent and twice the number of jobs lost in 2009 (32,000) — compared to Canada, which saw job growth of 227,900 or 1.4 per cent, said État du marché du travail au Québec: Bilan de l’année 2010.

The unemployment rate in 2010 contracted and stood at eight per cent, making it the first time since the statistics were first tracked in 1976 the annual unemployment rate in Quebec was not higher than Canada’s.

Jobs grew in the services sector in 2010 (83,500, up 2.8 per cent), whereas the goods sector recorded losses (16,800 jobs, down 1.9 per cent) for the second straight year.

The situation continued to worsen in the manufacturing industry, which lost jobs for the sixth time in eight years, said the Institut de la statistique du Québec. In 2010, that industry sustained a loss of 32,400 jobs (down 6.1 per cent). Since the peak in 2002 (649,900 jobs), more than one in five jobs have been lost.

The industries of health care and social assistance (up 24,400), professional, scientific and technical services (up 22,900) and construction (up 20,900) posted the highest job gains in Quebec in 2010, said the report.

Almost three-quarters of the jobs created in 2010 went to men (up 49,100 or 2.5 per cent), who were very affected by the job losses in 2009.

Part-time jobs grew sharply, by 5.2 per cent or 37,500 jobs, while full-time jobs went up by 29,200 or 0.9 per cent. Temporary employment expanded with 61,800 new jobs or by 14.6 per cent, a record since the start of those statistics being recorded in 1997.

The Montreal region, which has about one-quarter of the jobs in Quebec, benefited from almost 45 per cent of the jobs generated in 2010 (up 29,800) and recovered almost all of the jobs lost in 2009 (30,200).

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