The labour force in the St. John's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) accounts for more than one-third of the Provice's labour force. The St. John's labour market, like the Province as a whole, experienced employment losses during the mostrecent recession. Unlike the Province, however, losses were limited to one year (1992) and were subsequently recovered in the following year. Gains were recorded in 1995 which caused the CMA to register the highest annual employment on record. A 10.8 persent gain in employment since 1992, which was the low point for employment during the last recession in most regions o f Canada, is an outstanding performance for St. John's; out of the 25 CMAs in Canada for which Statistics Canada publishes data, only Sudbury experienced a stronger growth rate over this period.

The St. John's CMA has the lowest unemployment rate of any region within the Parovince, generally running four to six percentage points below the Provincial rate. The unemployment rate in the CMA for 1995 was 12.6 percent, the lowest since 1990.