abour market information is a vital resource for anyone trying to choose a career path or looking for work. But most people either have never heard the term or find the concept confusing or intimidating. Bring the subject up in conversation and watch the results: blank stares, stifled yawns, or looks of bewilderment. If people think of it at all, they see labour market information as a collection of dry, boring, useless and intimidating statistics. They see a series of facts heaped one upon the other and translated into tables, charts and percentages that look like they would require a doctoral degree in economics to understand.

Yes, statistics are often a major part of labour market information. But there are many other forms of labour market information out there, and the statistics themselves do not have to be intimidating. The purpose of this article is to provide a short introduction to the labour market: what it is, what types of information about it are available and why this information is valuable in making informed decisions about work and career.

What is the labour market?

Simply put, the labour market is the "market" where those who are in need of labour and those who can supply the labour come together. People who are looking for work are trying to "sell" their work to employees, who are looking to "buy" the labours of others.

This market is a "virtual market" rather than an actual physical location. It is not like your local farmers' market, where farmers display the produce they have for sale and people come and choose the produce they want. Instead, the labour market exists anywhere and everywhere employers and employees get together.

The labour market can exist within a town or city, a region or province, a country or a larger area. This depends on where the sellers or buyers of labour are willing to sell or buy their labour. For example, if you are looking for a job and are only willing or able to work in Calgary, then the city's labour market will be the one you are interested in. If you are willing to move to another city to work, then Alberta, Canada, or even the entire world could become your labour market.

What is Labour Market Information?

Now that we know what the labour market is, we can define the term "labour market information" quite easily. Labour market information is simply any information that tells us something about the labour market. This information can be found almost anywhere. When your dad tells you that Mrs. Johnson down the street wants to hire somebody to mow her lawn for the summer, he is giving you labour market information. So is Statistics Canada when they tell you the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Alberta.

Labour market information might talk about the labour market as it existed in the past, exists now, or could exist in the future. The main types of labour market information include:

• job vacancies
• employment and unemployment information
• occupational forecasts
• education and training requirements for different occupations
• wages and working conditions
• information about the supply of labour and demographic information about the community. This includes such things as age, gender, ethnicity, educational attainment and characteristics of employed and unemployed people.

Let's take a look at each of these areas in a little more detail and see why labour market information is so important in a successful job search or career decision. The most obvious form of labour market information is information about job vacancies. This tells us something about the demand of labour--certain businesses, corporations or organizations are trying to find somebody to sell his or her labour to them. It is also pretty obvious why this information is essential to a successful job search or career decisions. You have to know where the job openings are if you want to sell your labour to someone.

Employment and unemployment rates can also be important types of labour market information for somebody looking for work. Comparing unemployment rates in different areas can give you a general indication of the overall strength of their economies. Employment rates can be an even better indicator of the state of the economy in different areas. For example, the unemployment rate in one area may be lower than another because less people are looking for work in the first area. But levels of employment will tell you if more jobs are being created in one geographical area or another, regardless of the overall unemployment rate.

Employment information about specific industries is also valuable when choosing a career path. For example, if you were to look at Alberta employment information by industry, you would find some industries that are growing faster than others. A look at employment in the service industries would show quite an increase in the last few years, while a look at employment levels in public administration fields would show a decrease. This information might help you make decisions about what type of career to pursue.

Looking at changes in employment levels over time is one type of labour market trend. Labour market trends and occupational forecasts are another valuable type of labour market information for those trying to make informed decisions about their future. Knowing what kind of jobs will be in demand in the future, which occupations will decrease in demand, and what types of skills and abilities will be in demand can help people make career decisions. However, two important reservations should be kept in mind when using forecasts and trends.

• First, these are always only predictions. Generally the trends and forecasts will be well-thought-out and worth considering, but they are still only predictions. And horoscopes and television psychics notwithstanding, most people still agree that no one can predict the future with 100 per cent certainty.
• Second, information about what occupations will be in greater or less demand in the future is only one part of the equation when choosing a career. You also have to know what kind of occupation you would like to do--what jobs match your interests, skills, values and personality. For example, knowing that computer-related jobs will be in high demand in the future doesn't mean that you should dive head-first into this field if you really love working in the outdoors.

Wages and working conditions are another type of labour market information. If you want to sell your work to someone, you obviously will want to know how much they are willing to pay. Similarly, if you are making plans for your future career, you will want to know what wage people in that particular occupation make. The working conditions of the job or career will also be important. Does a particular job involve a lot of shift work? Are you able or willing to do this? Does the job involve a lot of independent work, or does it focus on teamwork? Which of these do you prefer?

The education and training which a job requires is another form of labour market information. When employers are looking to buy somebody's labour, they will want to make sure the person they hire has the knowledge and skills that are necessary. One way they can be fairly sure of this is to require that the person has taken certain courses, training, or tests that prove they have the skills and knowledge. As a seller of labour, you will want to know what educational and training requirements the buyer is looking for.

Demographic information and information about the supply of labour is the final type of labour market information we will discuss. At first, this type of information might seem less directly related to the labour market. What does the age of a city's population have to do with finding a job? Surprisingly, this can be important information. For example, one of the demographic trends in Canada is the "graying," or aging of the population. This may mean that the health and social service sectors of the economy will see an increase demand for labour to meet the needs of an older population. Similarly, information about the ethnic makeup of a community, the educational levels of the population and many other types of demographic information can be used to gain a better understanding of changes and developments in the labour market.

These are just some of the ways that labour market information can be used to help you find a job or make career decisions for your future. Now that you know what it is and how to use it, where can you find labour market information? Almost anywhere. We come across this type of information almost daily in the normal everyday course of events. News stories on television, the radio and in the newspapers constantly inform us about developments and changes within the labour market.

There are also lots of books, articles and Internet websites that are devoted particularly to providing labour market information. The prediction of labour market trends and job futures is almost a mini-industry in itself. Several books look at how the demographic makeup of the country is shifting, and how understanding this shift is causing changes in the typical corporation and the nature of work. The government, particularly Statistics Canada and Human Resources Development Canada, is probably the biggest producer of labour market information. Here are just a few Internet websites that provide some valuable labour market information.