P.E.I. job numbers slip after 3 record months

The total number of jobs on P.E.I. fell slightly in August, after three consecutive record-setting months, according to a Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey released Friday morning.

Total jobs dropped from 76,500 to 76,200. A drop in the number of people looking for work led to a lower unemployment rate, from 9.5 per cent to 9.3 per cent.

This is the fourth month in a row the rate has been below 10 per cent.

"Modest improvement, I think, would be the bottom line," said UPEI economics Prof. Jim Sentance.

Sentance noticed the month-to-month changes are relatively small, and could be "statistical noise" given the margin of error. He noted, however, that the provincial economy has had a good year on the jobs front.

"In particular, if you look at the year-over-year number it's over a five per cent increase in the level of full-time employment on the Island. That's really good," he said.

While the overall number of jobs fell, the losses were in part-time employment. The number of full-time jobs actually rose, to 64,100, and set another record for the province.

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