If Ontario tries to cut its way to a balanced budget, weak employment figures suggest the cuts may have to get a whole lot worse. Here's why. In the Budget, the government projected 100,000 job growth in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. That's an annual increase of about 1.4%. But the government is having a problem meeting its jobs target in 2014. Comparing the average of the first six months of 2013 with the first six of 2014 shows an increase from 6.861 million jobs to only 6.904 million. That's only 43,000 new jobs over the year, an increase 0.65% -- less than half of the government's target. The Public Sector: Given sharp public sector austerity, the main brake on job creation has been public sector employment. Even without Tim Hudak, public sector employment has decreased between the first six months of 2013 and the first six months of 2014 by some 40,000 jobs. The good news is that the decline may be easing. For the most recent m
Notes from Leftwords -- Doug Allan