Saturday, June 03, 2006

Declining Public Sector

Public sector employment
Year Federal government Provincial and territorial government Local government Total government Government business enterprises Total public sector

thousands
1990 406 1,387 869 2,663 365 3,027
1991 415 1,402 889 2,706 351 3,057
1992 411 1,409 904 2,725 338 3,063
1993 405 1,397 910 2,712 326 3,037
1994 394 1,376 909 2,679 324 3,003
1995 371 1,370 907 2,649 309 2,958
1996 356 1,315 907 2,579 273 2,851
1997 338 1,302 891 2,531 258 2,789
1998 331 1,300 888 2,518 261 2,779
1999 328 1,296 885 2,509 262 2,771
2000 335 1,304 882 2,521 266 2,787
2001 351 1,314 882 2,547 266 2,814
2002 359 1,335 887 2,582 264 2,846
2003 366 1,382 893 2,642 267 2,909
2004 367 1,393 916 2,676 265 2,941
2005 371 1,413 933 2,716 263 2,980
Numbers may not add up due to rounding.


Federal public sector jobs have declined since 1990. So has employment in the Post Office and other Canadian government businesses.What has increased is contracting out of public sector work , which Stats Canada defines as self employment. Such contracting out allows the State to benefit since wages, benefits, pensions etc. are downloaded onto the individual.

An estimated 2.5 million people were self-employed in Canada last year, representing 15.5 per cent of all workers.

The increase in provincial public sector jobs is not really an increase but a return to the levels before the drastic slash and burn policies of the neo-liberal state during the debt and defiict hysteria of the ninties. The increase probably corresponds to the increased hiring of doctors and nurses which has occured over the past four years.

While business likes to say they create jobs, the reality is that the state remains a major employer of Canadians.

A tip o the blog to My Blahg


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