• What is the Jobboom Index?
• What factors affect the Jobboom Index?
• What's the difference between the Jobboom Index and the unemployment rate?
• What is the difference between the Jobboom Index and the Help-wanted Index?
• Should I hold off on a job search or quit my job based on the Jobboom Index?
• Warning!

The Jobboom Index is a monthly forecast of Quebec's job-market strength based on calculations for the past ten years.

Derived from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey (LFS) figures, the Jobboom Index is obtained using a statistical method known as auto-regression. It comprises a two-percent normal margin of error.

The job market is considered strong when it is favourable to workers i.e. when the employment level is high.

The Jobboom Index will rise or fall according to the net creation or loss of jobs. The Index falls when the number of existing jobs declines; the Index rises whenever the number of new and existing jobs increases.

The Jobboom Index and the unemployment rate are very different.

Unemployment figures are based on the number of active job-market participants. Thus, an unemployment rate of eight percent means that for every 100 active job-market participants, eight are currently unemployed and seeking employment, while 92 are employed full-time or part-time.

The unemployment rate does not take into account the entire working-age population-it only considers active job-market participants. What this means is that even if new jobs have been created in a given month, the unemployment rate may actually rise, as new job seekers become active participants in the job market. The Jobboom Index avoids this distortion.

Indeed, the Jobboom Index is based on Quebec's entire working-age population (all residents 15 years old and over). First, we calculate the number of jobs held in Quebec. Then, that number is divided by Quebec's working-age population. The result is known as the employment rate-a rate that is more stable than the unemployment rate.

Finally, the monthly employment rates for the preceding ten years are sorted according to rank. The Jobboom Index represents the forecasted rank of the employment rate for a given month.

The Help-wanted Index has become more popular in recent months. It is based on the number of help-wanted ads that are published in a select number of Canadian newspapers.

Much like the Jobboom Index, the Help-wanted Index also measures job-market strength.

If it were possible to measure the total number of jobs vacancies in any given month, the Help-wanted Index would be the best way to measure job-market strength. The truth, however, is that such a measure is impossible. The Help-wanted Index takes into account only part of the picture i.e. many available jobs are not published in newspapers. It does not take into account job vacancies that are advertised in employment centres, on union billboards, or those posted internally through various professional associations.

The increasing number of job postings that have migrated to the Internet has also reduced the reliability of the Help-wanted Index-not to mention the many available jobs that are simply not advertised.

Fortunately, the Jobboom Index measures job-market strength differently: by using the total number of existing jobs in the economy. When there are less existing jobs, the Jobboom Index declines.

When existing jobs increase, the Jobboom Index will also increase. By comparing the total number of existing jobs on a monthly basis, over a ten-year period, the strength of the job market can effectively be measured.

Finally, using its ranking system based on the ten preceding years, the Jobboom Index takes into account seasonal effects in its measure of job-market strength.

No! The Jobboom Index forecasts general job market conditions. The success of an individual job search depends on numerous individual factors: your skill level, your knowledge and experience in a given sector, your job interview preparedness, etc. In a weak job market, your job search efforts will, of course, have to increase.

The Jobboom Index measures the number of existing jobs. It does not measure the number of available jobs in the economy. At the moment, a method to measure the latter does not exist.

The Jobboom Index is a job-market strength prediction tool, directly related to the number of existing jobs in the economy (in Quebec), for a given period. The level of existing jobs is ranked in comparison to the number of existing jobs for the past ten years (120 months), and a prediction for the current month is obtained, taking into account any seasonal effects.