The Performance of the 1990s Canadian Labour Market

Abstract

There is a general sense that 1990s labour market was unique. It has been characterized by notions such as downsizing, technological revolution, the knowledge-based economy, job instability, and so on. This paper provides an extensive overview of performance of 1990s labour market, and asks just how different it was from 1980s. It goes on to ask if facts are consistent with many common beliefs and explanations. Macro-level topics include: 1.Has nature of work changed dramatically in 1990s? 2.Has there been a continued ratcheting up of unemployment? 3.Have we witnessed rising job instability and increased levels of layoffs? 4.Did company downsizing increase in 1990s? 5.Why did per capita income growth stall in 1990s? 6.For a worker with a given level of human capital, has there been a deterioration in labour market outcomes? The paper concludes with a discussion of overall performance of 1990s labour market as compared to 1980s.