Benchmarks for assessing labour market health: 2025 update Staff analytical note 2025-17 Fares Bounajm, Tessa Devakos We provide an update on the state of the labour market, which has moved into modest excess supply. We also explore why wage growth measures remain elevated and how US trade policy could affect different parts of the labour market. We update the range of benchmarks in our dashboard of indicators. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E2, J, J2, J3, J6 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply, International trade, finance and competitiveness
Beyond the averages: Measuring underlying wage growth using Labour Force Survey microdata Staff analytical note 2024-23 Fares Bounajm, Tessa Devakos, Gabriela Galassi When it comes to understanding the influence of labour costs on inflation, average wage growth is a misleading indicator because it is affected by composition effects. We propose an alternative measure that corrects for these effects by using microdata from the Labour Force Survey. Our new measure has many desirable properties, including reduced volatility and a better relationship with labour market fundamentals. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C3, C31, J, J2, J21, J3, J30, J31, J8, J82 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Let’s Get Physical: Impacts of Climate Change Physical Risks on Provincial Employment Staff working paper 2024-32 Thibaut Duprey, Soojin Jo, Geneviève Vallée We analyze 40 years’ worth of natural disasters using a local projection framework to assess their impact on provincial labour markets in Canada. We find that disasters decrease hours worked within a week and lower wage growth in the medium run. Our study highlights that disasters affect vulnerable workers through the income channel. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C3, C33, E, E2, E24, J, J3, Q, Q5, Q54 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Climate change, Demographics and labour supply
Benchmarks for assessing labour market health: 2024 update Staff analytical note 2024-8 Erik Ens, Alexander Lam, Kurt See, Gabriela Galassi We assess the health of the Canadian labour market. We find that it has seen gradual but material easing since 2023, amid some signs of structural changes. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E2, J, J2, J3, J6 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
The Heterogeneous Impacts of Job Displacement: Evidence from Canadian Job Separation Records Staff working paper 2023-55 Serdar Birinci, Youngmin Park, Kurt See When estimating earnings losses upon job separations, existing strategies focus on separations in mass layoffs to distinguish involuntary separations from voluntary separations. We revisit the measurement of the sources and consequences of involuntary job separations using Canadian job separation records. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E32, J, J3, J31, J6, J63, J65 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Labor Market Shocks and Monetary Policy Staff working paper 2023-52 Serdar Birinci, Fatih Karahan, Yusuf Mercan, Kurt See We develop a heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian model featuring a frictional labor market with on-the-job search to quantitatively study the positive and normative implications of employer-to-employer transitions for inflation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E1, E12, E2, E24, E5, E52, J, J3, J31, J6, J62, J64 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
Labour Supply and Firm Size Staff working paper 2023-47 Lin Shao, Faisal Sohail, Emircan Yurdagul This paper documents a systematic pattern of how wages, hours and their relationship vary across firms of different sizes. Using a model with heterogeneous firms and workers, we show how the interplay between wages, hours and firm size affect worker sorting and inequality. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J2, J3, J31 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Demographic Origins of the Decline in Labor’s Share Staff working paper 2023-20 Andrew Glover, Jacob Short Declining labour market dynamism of workers results in an increasing wedge between their earnings and their marginal product as they age. This wedge and the demographic shift in the earnings shares of older workers can account for 59% of the decline in labor’s share of earnings in the United States. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D3, D33, E, E2, E25, J, J1, J3, J6, J62 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Are Working Hours Complements in Production? Staff working paper 2022-47 Lin Shao, Faisal Sohail, Emircan Yurdagul Using Canadian matched employer-employee data, we show that working hours of different workers are gross complements in production rather than perfect substitutes, as is typically assumed by macroeconomic models of production. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E23, J, J2, J22, J23, J3, J31 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Has wage setting changed in Canada? Evidence from the pre-pandemic 2020 Wage-Setting Survey Staff analytical note 2022-10 David Amirault, Sarah Miller, Matthieu Verstraete Just before the pandemic began, the Bank of Canada conducted the 2020 Wage-Setting Survey. The goal was to explore the unusual trend of subdued wage growth in 2018 and 2019 despite a tightening in the labour market. Although this wage puzzle was beginning to resolve at the time of the survey, results highlight changes in several factors that may have important impacts on wage dynamics. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): J, J3, J31, J32, J33, J6, J63 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply, Digitalization and productivity