Ottawa-Gatineau’s Regional Index: 90 percent
Following last month’s 7-point jump, this month’s Jobboom Index for the Ottawa-Gatineau region is up 5.4 points, mainly due to the creation of 5,700 jobs in December, as reported by Statistics Canada. These positive results follow several months of stagnation when the region’s Jobboom Index remained below 80 percent. Only time will tell if the current positive trend will continue into the new year. January’s Index ranks 10th out of 120. In other words, there were 110 months with lesser Indices, over the past 120 months. The number of jobs for the region increased from 504,500 to 632,300 from December 1994 to December 2004—a growth of 25 percent over the past ten years.

Toronto’s Regional Index: 68.1 percent
A meagre gain of 1,000 jobs in December, adding to losses of 25,500 positions over the three previous months, has resulted in another drop in Toronto’s Jobboom Index (−5.4) and an employment status of “fair” for January. The region had previously achieved an employment status of “excellent” from July to September 2004. This month’s Index ranks 59th out of 120. In other words, over the past 120 months, there were 61 months with lesser Indices. From December 1994 to December 2004, the number of jobs in Toronto increased from 2,033,200 to 2,750,700—a growth of 35 percent.