SUMMERSIDE - P.E.I. has the country's highest ratio of unemployed people to the number of jobs available, but not everyone thinks those figures are as bad as they look.
A study released earlier this week by Statistics Canada says there were 9.4 Islanders out of work for every one available job. That's compared to the second-highest ratio of 7.8 to 1 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and well above the national average of 3.3 to 1.
But provincial Innovation Minister Allen Roach pointed to the Island's strong job growth in recent years as a sign that P.E.I. is on the right track.
"I look at the fact that P.E.I. has the second fastest pace of job creation in the country... and we're a full percentage point beyond the national average in the pace at which we're creating jobs," said Roach.
"Our population is growing and when a job comes up there's a great demand for that job, so you have a lot of people seeking that employment. Islanders are hungry for work."
Roach added that 800 new jobs were created on the Island in December 2011. The StatsCan study that figure is based on, however, notes that the majority of the new jobs were seasonal or part-time.
The recent job vacancies study was based on a three-month average, ending in September 2011.
Saskatchewan and Alberta recorded the lowest unemployment-to-vacancy ratios among the provinces at 1.5 and 1.8, respectively.
Janet Needham Payne, site leader and counsellor at Career Development Services (CDS) in Summerside, said the number of people coming into the site has been consistent over the past few years.
She said the majority of residents are simply looking for tips on building a resumé and searching for a job, but many are also in the process of taking specific skills training to give them a better chance of finding work.
"This can be everything from taking that first step with getting your GED to looking at post-secondary to looking at least improving their employability," said Payne.
"Lots of our clients come in and are not looking at training or paid interventions, they're looking at getting help with their resume - that can be a big difference. I do think training can be that piece that will help people get the jobs that are out there."
sbrun@journalpioneer.com
Provincial ratios of unemployed residents to job vacancies over a three-month period, ending in September 2011:
P.E.I. - 9.4 unemployed to every one job vacancy
Newfoundland and Labrador - 7.8 to 1
Nunavut - 6.9 to 1
New Brunswick - 5.8 to 1
Nova Scotia - 5.5 to 1
B.C. - 4.4 to 1
Ontario - 3.5 to 1
Northwest Territories - 3.4 to 1
Canada - 3.3 to 1
Quebec - 3.3 to 1
Alberta - 1.8 to 1
Yukon - 1.6 to 1
Saskatchewan - 1.5 to 1
Source: Statistics Canada
if you got laid off from a decent-paying manufacturing job, would you accept one of these part-time jobs at mcdonalds, or take the higher-paying EI cheque from the government - an insurance premium in which you've paid into your entire working life? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the article should show how many Islanders there is to each REAL JOB (not part-time, contract, seasonal, service industry jobs!). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ of course i can't speak for the people here who do abuse the system, or weren't looking for meaningful work in the first place, that's a whole other story. but again, this type of culture would not exist if the ratio of meaningful work to islanders was greatly improved, and furthermore if the wages matched the work (another article in the pei news recently).