B.C. and Wyoming might not share a border, but they have one thing in common: equally productive labour markets.
According to a Fraser Institute labour force report published Thursday, Canada’s western-most province and Wyoming tied for sixth place overall in North America for having the best performing labour markets.
In Canada, the free-market think-tank said the western provinces continue to outperform their eastern counterparts, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba rounding out the top three markets north of the 49th parallel.
B.C. was ranked the fourth best performing labour market in Canada, slipping from third place last year.
The Fraser Institute said it was “alarming” that Canada’s largest province, Ontario, ranked near the bottom on several performance indicators.
“The western provinces have evolved into labour market powerhouses, not only compared to the rest of Canada but also to the United States,” said Amela Karabegovic, a senior economist at the think-tank and co-author of the report.
The report ranked labour performance based on five indicators, including: total employment growth, private-sector employment growth, unemployment rates, duration of employment and labour productivity between 2006 and 2010.
The report also studied public-sector employment, unionization, minimum wages and labour relations laws.
The think-tank said minimum wage increases across Canada and large unionized workforces negatively affect labour performance.
“In virtually all provinces, we see high levels of public-sector employment, rising minimum wages and biased regulations that lead to high rates of unionization which negatively affect provincial labour markets,” commented Niels Veldhuis, the Fraser Institute’s vice-president of Canadian policy research and co-author of the report.
Joel McKay
Twitter:jmckaybiv