The United States Bureau of Labour Statistics has released (pdf) its 2010 comparison of labour statistics from industrialized countries in North America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.
According to the report, Canada enjoyed the highest labour force participation rate in 2008 with 62.8% of women and 73.1% of men of working-age actively engaged in the labour market. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and New Zealand rounded out the top five with labour force participation rates of at least 60% for women and 69% for men. Italy had the lowest participation rate of countries surveyed with only 38.6% of women and 60.2% of men participating in the labour force.
Canada also enjoyed the highest level of educational attainment in the adult population in 2007 with 48% of Canadians having obtained a college or university degree. New Zealand, Japan, and the United States also had relatively high levels of educational attainment, with at least 40% of the adult population having obtained a college or university degree. In contrast, approximately 70% of the adult population in Portugal and Mexico did not complete high school.
Despite high levels of work force participation and educational attainment, Canada had the third lowest labour productivity rate of all countries surveyed from 1998 to 2008. The Republic of Korea ranked first at 7.9% followed by Sweden, Taiwan, the United States and the United Kingdom with labour productivity rates of at least 4%.
