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Employment in capital up by 600 Seasonal peak higher than usual, says GNWT
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, July 16, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The number of people employed in Yellowknife between April and June increased by 600 to 13,100 people, according to a NWT Bureau of Statistics report released earlier this month.
Louis-Nelson Levesque steadies steel girders 30 metres up in the air in March during construction of the new government building in Yellowknife. The construction sector is the usual fuel for a jump in employment in Yellowknife each spring but this year's seasonal jump is higher than in recent years. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo
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The increase brought Yellowknife's employment rate to 81.9 per cent in June from 79.6 per cent in April.
In the NWT the rate rose to 71.9 per cent from 67.6 per cent.
While a job peak is usual for this time of year, the numbers Yellowknife and the NWT are seeing this spring and summer are higher than they've been in recent years, a GNWT spokesperson said.
"We always get a spike in the early spring," said Jacqueline McKinnon, manager of public affairs for the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment.
"This is the highest employment rate that we've had in three years and we're hoping that some of the stuff we've got going on across the territory, some of the big projects, (are having an impact)."
The activity McKinnon is referring to includes such sectors as private and public construction work, mine development, and exploration work.
Moreover, regional training partnerships, which consist of representatives from each region, aboriginal government, the GNWT, Aurora College and industry, work to match NWT residents with training and job opportunities.
McKinnon said the usual spring employment jump is in anticipation of the start of the construction season as well as the return of post-secondary students to the job market between school years.
"The construction companies need more people so there are contractors and people brought in to fulfil those needs," she said. "Plus the summer students are back so you get a lot of employment across government ... and other areas of expertise or just looking for summer jobs that help them create a bit of a buffer for their school year."
This year, the GNWT has hired 249 students for summer employment across the NWT, she said.
Rachelle Hartley, executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Construction Association, stated in an e-mail to Yellowknifer that Service Canada has indicated an increase in the usual employment rise in May 2013 as compared to May 2012, and the association expects employment numbers to continue to rise throughout the summer construction season.
Hartley added Service Canada identified the services-producing sector as the industry with the most employment increases.
Whatever the source of the jobs, employment rates in the NWT and Yellowknife are some of the highest seen in years. It will take more time to judge if this year's spring employment boost is representative of any larger, long-term economic trends, said McKinnon, who added she's looking forward to seeing how the numbers come in this fall.
"I want to see if this was just a seasonal peak or if there is something that is creating a little bit of momentum."
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