According to Toronto City employment survey, Toronto’s overall employment in 2009 was 1,291,200 down by 1.4% or 18,100 jobs from 2008; the first year of decline after five consecutive years of growth. Here is some other interesting data based on the report:
In 2009, the total number of business establishments in the City of Toronto was 73,600. This is a decrease of 1,300 business establishments from the previous year. Of the new establishments, 53.7% are located within the Downtown, Centres and Employment Districts. The types of new occupancy that dominate in 2009 are Health Service practitioners such as chiropractors, physiotherapists, etc., law firms, computer services, specialty stores, bake shops and butcher shops.
The largest share of jobs is found in the Office sector (47.1%), followed by Institutional (16.8%), Service (11.7%), Retail (11.0%), Manufacturing (10.0%) and Other (3.4%), reflecting the diverse nature of the Toronto economy.
Employment in the Downtown and Centres has grown by 8.3% or 39,200 jobs since 2004; but declined by 7,200 jobs (-1.4%) between 2008 and 2009.The median number of employees per establishment was 4 in 2009.
The graph below shows the change in each sector. The biggest decline has been in Manufacturing followed by Retail and Office.
Employment by Sector in Toronto
