--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/a-comparison-of-canadian-and-u-s-labour-market-performance-1989-2000/" title: "A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Labour Market Performance, 1989-2000" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T14:09:29+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T14:09:29+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "Canada-US comparison" - "employment" - "GDP per capita" - "labour force participation" - "labour market" - "living standards" - "macroeconomic policy" - "part-time employment" - "real income" - "self-employment" - "unemployment" - "wage inequality" country_focus: - "Canada" - "United States" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Labour Markets" - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Labour Market Performance, 1989-2000 Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/a-comparison-of-canadian-and-u-s-labour-market-performance-1989-2000/ # A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Labour Market Performance, 1989-2000 [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2001-01.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Sharpe, Andrew. 2001. “A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Labour Market Performance, 1989-2000.” CSLS Research Report 2001-01. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/a-comparison-of-canadian-and-u-s-labour-market-performance-1989-2000/ ## Author: - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2001-01 April 2001 29 pages ## Related research [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [Closing the First Nations Education Gap in Canada: Assessing Progress and Estimating the Economic Benefits — An Update Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2023 | Report 2023-01 | 101 pages](https://csls.ca/research/closing-the-first-nations-education-gap-in-canada-assessing-progress-and-estimating-the-economic-benefits-an-update-2023-01/) [Productivity Trends: A Canada-U.S. Comparison Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) January 1999 | Report 1999-01 | 6 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-a-canada-u-s-comparison/) [New Estimates of Manufacturing Productivity Growth for Canada and the United States Andrew Sharpe March 1999 | Report 1999-02 | 21 pages](https://csls.ca/research/new-estimates-of-manufacturing-productivity-growth-for-canada-and-the-united-states/) [Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege? 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The thesis of this paper is that this divergence to a large degree, particularly in the first half of the 1990s, has its roots in part in the different labour market and productivity performance of the two economies and that Canada’s inferior income performance reflected cyclical factors associated with poor macroeconomic policy management rather than structural factors.The paper is divided into three main parts. The first section examines general economic and labour market developments in Canada and the United States in the 1989-2000 period, looking at trends in real income, population, labour force, employment,unemployment, output and productivity. The second section looks at the common trends in the two labour markets, including the concentration of employment growth in services and in managerial and professional occupations; growing wage inequality; and the downward trend in the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment. The third section examines divergent trends in the two labour markets, including the widening of the unemployment rate gap; the emergence of a participation rate gap; and greater self-employment and part-time employment growth in Canada. L’écart entre le niveau de vie canadien et américain s’est considérablement creusé dans les années 1990. En moyenne, les Américains étaient 16 % mieux nantis en 2000 qu’en 1989 sur le plan du revenu personnel réel par habitant, alors que les Canadiens n’ont connu qu’une hausse de 5 % de leur revenu réel. La thèse de cet article est que cette divergence, dans une large mesure, particulièrement durant la première moitié des années 1990, trouve en partie son origine dans la différence de performance du marché du travail et de la productivité entre les deux économies, et que la performance inférieure du Canada en matière de revenu reflète des facteurs conjoncturels liés à une mauvaise gestion des politiques macroéconomiques plutôt que des facteurs structurels. L’article se divise en trois grandes parties. La première section examine l’évolution économique et du marché du travail au Canada et aux États-Unis au cours de la période 1989-2000, en examinant les tendances du revenu réel, de la population, de la main-d’œuvre, de l’emploi, du chômage, de la production et de la productivité. La deuxième section examine les tendances communes aux deux marchés du travail, notamment la concentration de la croissance de l’emploi dans les services et dans les professions de gestion et professionnelles; l’inégalité salariale croissante; et la tendance à la baisse du taux de chômage n’accélérant pas l’inflation. La troisième section examine les tendances divergentes entre les deux marchés du travail, notamment le creusement de l’écart du taux de chômage; l’émergence d’un écart de taux d’activité; et une plus grande prévalence du travail autonome. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2001-01.pdf)