3 stinging graphs that cut Stephen Harper's million jobs problem wide open

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Published on Saturday, 19 July 2014 12:40

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This is what the real Conservative jobs record looks like in three graphs:

First, Tim Hudak had a "Million Jobs Plan" problem.

Now, Stephen Harper has landed in a bit of trouble with his claim that "one million net new jobs" have been created since the recession.

This well-worn line by Harper and cabinet ministers now underpins the Conservative Party's new "We're better off with Harper" campaign.

It should have an asterisk next to it, though.

There's a reason why the Conservatives use June 2009, a low point for the Canadian economy, as their starting point, writes economist Andrew Jackson in a new analysis of Statistics Canada's labour force data.

If you look at the stats before the onset of the recession in June 2008 and the big job losses it caused, you get a more fulsome -- and accurate -- picture of where Canada stands, explains Jackson, a senior advisor at the Broadbent Institute.

The increase in employment is a "more modest 753,000 jobs." What's worse? There are actually 638,810 missing jobs in Canada since June 2008.

That's because Canada's employment rate -- the proportion of the working-age population with a job -- "is still well below pre-recession levels," explains Jackson. The missing jobs number, though, doesn't really work as a rallying point for your economic stewardship.