Part of the information collected in the Labour Force Survey concerns how long individuals have been unemployed. Go to www.statcan.gc.ca to find the latest report. Click on the link on this main page labelled “CANSIM.” This will direct you to another page for CANSIM. Then in the “Search CANSIM” enter “282-0047” for the duration of unemployment by sex and age group, unadjusted for seasonality, monthly (Persons) figures.

a. How many workers were unemployed less than five weeks? What percentage of all unemployed workers do these workers represent? How do these numbers compare to the previous month’s data?

b. How many workers were unemployed for 27 or more weeks? What percentage of all unemployed workers do these workers represent? How do these numbers compare to the previous month’s data?

c. How long has the average worker been unemployed (average duration, in weeks)? How does this compare to the average for the previous month’s data?

d. Comparing the latest month for which there are data with the previous month, has the problem of long-term unemployment improved or deteriorated?