The economy of St. John's is based largely on the administration of government services at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels (15 percent of the labor force); educational services (10 percent); and health and social services (12 percent). Other service jobs account for 14 percent, trade for 19 percent, and other industries for 16 percent. Manufacturing is relatively unimportant to the city's economy, involving only 6 percent of the labor force. An additional 6 percent are employed in construction, and less than 2 percent are engaged in fishing and other primary activities. These figures are for the experienced labor force; the unemployed include young people looking for work who have not found it yet and thus cannot be classified.
Like the province of Newfoundland as a whole, St. John's is economically depressed. In the late 1990s, the official unemployment rate in the city was about 15 percent, well above the Canadian average. St. John's has also suffered declines in inner-city population and retail trade. As people have left the city for newer suburban homes, merchants have followed them, setting up shop in suburban shopping malls. These migrations, combined with the arrival of large-scale retail chains providing lower-priced goods, have changed the face of the city's downtown area.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. St. Johns Information info
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