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Employment has increased 10 times faster among older workers aged 55 and over than among workers aged 25 to 54
Ottawa (6 February 2008) – The country's ageing workforce is growing so rapidly that workers 55 and older accounted for up half of all new jobs created in the Canadian labour market in 2007, according to Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey for January 2008.
The Survey shows that the number of workers over the age of 55 reached a record 2.5 million in December, accounting for 15% of all employed persons.
Despite making up a small percentage of the Canadian workplace, workers age 55 and over accounted for a staggering 50% of the nation's employment growth of 370,000 new positions in 2007. The employment of older workers rose by 7.7% last year, well above the national growth rate of 2.2%.
And while nationally, employment declined by 19,000 positions in December, older workers bucked the trend to post a 17,000 increase. The majority of workers in this category were aged between 55 and 65.
In the past year, employment has increased 10 times faster among older workers aged 55 and over (+8.0%) than among workers aged 25 to 54 (+0.8%). Older workers have captured a large share of employment gains, owing in part to the growth of this group within an aging Canadian population and in part to the steady rise in their employment rate since 1997.