5.8 unemployed workers for every job vacancy

CLC's Ken Georgetti says government has no job creation strategy.

from the Canadian Labour Congress

The President of the Canadian Labour Congress says that new Statistics Canada numbers give the lie to the federal government's claim that unemployed Canadians do not want to look for work.

Ken Georgetti was commenting on the release by Statistics Canada of figures showing that between January and March 2012 there were 5.8 unemployed workers for every job vacancy in Canada.

 

"The whole premise of the government's changes to Employment Insurance in the recent budget bill is that unemployed Canadians are lazy and do not want to look for work, Georgetti says. "The Statistics Canada figures show just how hollow and mean-spirited that accusation is."

Georgetti adds that the government's claim that there are serious labour shortages in Canada are largely inaccurate.

"In Atlantic Canada, there are an average of 12 unemployed workers for every job vacancy, and in Ontario the number is 7.6. This government has no strategy for job creation and it should do something about that rather than scapegoating the unemployed."

To add insult to injury, Georgetti says, 62.5 percent of unemployed Canadians are not actually receiving Employment Insurance. "The government is making it more and more difficult for unemployed Canadians to receive benefits from an insurance program that they paid into," Georgetti says, "and that is not fair."

References
  CLC Website
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