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Jobboom Index for May

Quebec employment reports little change

Despite a loss of 5,900 jobs over the past month, Quebec’s Jobboom Index forecast is up slightly (+0.9), influenced by the historical trend of the past 10 years for the month of May.

Losses in April, combined with existing losses of 8,800 positions in February and March, have eroded employment gains achieved at the beginning of the year. Quebec began 2005 with 15,700 new jobs—the first significant employment gain since October. In April, new jobs in construction and in professional, scientific and technical services were, nonetheless, largely offset by losses in the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors.

   MAY 2005
   FORECAST
87.7%

FAVOURABLE

The Jobboom Index measures job market strength compared to the previous 120 months. This month’s Index ranks 14th out of 120. In other words, over the past ten years, there were 106 months with weaker Indices. From April 1995 to April 2005, the number of jobs in Quebec grew by 18 percent.

  INDEX
(percent)		 EMPLOYMENT SITUATION COMPARED TO APRIL
QUÉBEC 87.7 FAVOURABLE 0.9
Québec Region 95.5 Excellent 1.1
Trois-Rivières Region 95.0 Excellent 4.9
Ottawa-Gatineau Region 85.4 Favourable 0.8
Montréal Region 82.0 Favourable -0.7
Sherbrooke Region 81.9 Favourable -2.0
Saguenay Region 60.7 Fair 0.1