Aboriginals Hit Hard By Recession: StatsCan

Aboriginals Hit Hard By Recession: StatsCan

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 15:17

 

 

A new report from Statistics Canada paints some troubling news when it comes to Aboriginal employment.

 

StatsCan says Aboriginal people aged 15 and over living off-reserve suffered more job losses than the rest of Canada during the economic recession.

 

In 2008, the unemployment rate for the country was 6 per cent.

 

That number jumped to 8.1 percent in 2009.

 

However, the situation was much worse for Aboriginal people.

 

Their unemployment rate jumped from 10.4 per cent to 13.9 per cent over the same period.

 

Meanwhile, the biggest employer in 2009 for most Aboriginal people between the ages of 25 to 54 was the health care and social assistance sectors.

 

That was followed by trade, construction and manufacturing.