economy
THE GREAT SUPPRESSION: A DIFFERENT KIND OF RECESSION, PART II BC’s service sector has been hit hard by job losses in 2020, potentially altering the structure of the economy for years to come.
In case it’s not yet obvious as we continue to probe the features of 2020’s Great Suppression, the current downturn has been historicallyunique initspaceofpermutation, depth of decline, and composition of change. And with respect to the latter, it has not only been the unique mix of full- versus part-time job losses that has been notable, but also which sectors have been hit the hardest. In British Columbia, and indeed in all industrialized economies, the broadly- defined service sector employs the majority of people; in this province, 75% of jobs are service-based, with the remaining 25% in goods-producing sectors.
Notably, the Great Recession of 12 years ago was characterized not only by the loss of many full-time jobs, but jobs in sectors such asconstruction,manufacturing, finance, and real estate. In fact, together, these sectors accounted for 65% of BC’s total job losses during that time. Things are very different this time around. The sectors above noted accounted for only 19% of job losses between February and April 2020, while retail trade, wholesale, food services (restaurants and cafes), and accommodation (hotels) accounted for 49%—up from 14% in 2008-09.
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