Labour Force Survey Monthly
Labour Force Survey, February 2019
released March 8, 2019
Prince Edward Island Employment
| Month | Can | NL | PE | NS | NB | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2019 | 5.8 | 11.8 | 10.3 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 4.5 |
| January 2019 | 5.8 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 6.9 | 8.2 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6.8 | 4.7 |
| February 2018 | 5.8 | 14.2 | 10.1 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 4.7 |
| Year-over-Year change (pp) | 0.0 | -2.4 | 0.2 | -1.5 | 0.4 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -0.6 | 0.1 | 0.7 | -0.2 |
| Monthly change (pp) | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -0.5 | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
Summary
Today’s Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey shows that P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.3 per cent in February 2019. This is up 0.4 percentage points from last month and up 0.2 percentage points from February 2018. Seasonally adjusted employment in February totalled 75,000, a decrease of 500 from one year ago and also down by 500 from January 2019. The annual decline was a result of a decrease of 1,000 in part-time employment while full-time employment increased by 600[1]. The number of unemployed persons on Prince Edward Island increased to 8,600, up by 300 from one month ago and up by 100 from February 2018. The labour force participation rate stood at 65.7 in February, down 1.6 percentage points from February 2018. The total labour force decreased by 300 from February 2018 to total 83,600.
The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region increased to 7.2 per cent in February, up from 6.7 per cent in January. This results in a decrease in the hours needed to qualify for EI in this region, from 665 to 630 hours and increases the minimum draw period from 15 to 17 weeks. The rate in the PEI region in February was 12.6 per cent, up from 11.8 per cent in January. This results in a decrease in the hours needed to qualify for EI in this region, from 490 to 455 hours and increases the minimum draw period from 23 to 24 weeks.
Nationally, employment increased by 56,000 in February and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 per cent. Employment gains were driven largely by an increase in full-time employment.
Ontario was the lone province to see a notable increase in employment, while Manitoba showed a notable decline. There was little change in all other provinces.
Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between February 2018 and February 2019 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island [1] :
|
Goods-producing sector: |
+200 |
Service-providing sector: |
+100 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Agriculture: |
+200 |
Trade (Retail/Wholesale): |
-100 |
|
Other Primary Industries: |
0 |
Transport & Warehousing: |
+600 |
|
Manufacturing: |
+200 |
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate: |
-100 |
|
Construction: |
-300 |
Business Services: |
+1,200 |
|
Utilities: |
x |
Professional, Scientific and Technical: |
-500 |
|
|
|
Educational Services: |
-500 |
|
|
|
Health & Social Services: |
-300 |
|
|
|
Public Administration: |
+700 |
|
|
|
Information, Culture and Recreation: |
-400 |
|
|
|
Accommodation & Food services: |
-300 |
| Other Services: | -200 |
[1] Components may not sum to total due to rounding
PEI Unemployment Rate
(Seasonally Adjusted)
Notes:
- The LFS estimates for February are for the week of February 10 to 16, 2019.
- The LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. For more information, see the Statistics Canada publication "Interpreting Monthly Changes in Employment from the Labour Force Survey."
- The next release of the LFS will be on April 5, 2019.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released March 8, 2019.
Related downloads for this release:
Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)
General Inquiries
Department of Finance
2nd Floor South, Shaw Building
95 Rochford Street
P.O. Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE, C1A 7N8
Phone: (902) 368-4040
Fax: (902) 368-6575