Workforce

Income

The minimum wage, called "salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance" in France, is currently established at almost 9 euros an hour in the archipelago, in 2009. An employee's wage in the public buildings and works (BTP) sector, which employs 10% of the labour force, is approximately 14 euros an hour. However, legislation regarding overseas development includes provisions for exemptions for employers of certain employer contributions in order to decrease the cost of providing employment.

Education and training

In 1999, there were 5,062 people aged 15 years and over living in the archipelago. The following table illustrates the education level of this population.

In spite of the small numbers, two important categories are the General Bac. and the Professional Bac. Students who achieved the Bac. and Professional Certificate levels had a high success rate, i.e. 89% and 93% respectively, in 2007.

Professional development/training in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is offered by the Comité de coordination de l'emploi et de la formation professionnelle, the Association pour la Formation continue and the Chambre d'Agriculture, de Commerce, d'Industrie et de Métiers de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon. However, if the desired training is not offered on the archipelago, students can turn to training programs offered abroad. Moreover, the Comité de Formation Professionnelle offered more than 30 training programs in 2007, including programs in masonry, welding, process piping and psychological support for the unemployed (called "job seekers").

Unemployment, work and labour force

In Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, the term "job seekers" is preferred to "unemployed". The number of job seekers varies depending on the season. Since the summer season is the most favourable for fishing, tourism and construction activities, the unemployment rate is lower. There are approximately 150 job seekers in the archipelago during the summer months. The situation is quite different in the winter, when weather conditions limit certain activities. Consequently, the number of job seekers climbs over 400 during this period. There is an average of 300 job seekers every year. In 1999, the unemployment rate was 34% in Miquelon-Langlade and 10.4% in Saint-Pierre, whereas in 2006, it fell to 21.7% in Miquelon-Langlade and 8.7% in Saint-Pierre. Thus, the unemployment rate is about three times higher in Miquelon-Langlade than in Saint-Pierre. In 2006, the labour force of the archipelago reached 3,194.

Demography

Since 1982, the archipelago population increased from 6,041 to 6,277 in 1990, to 6,316 in 1999 and to 6,125 in 2006. However, as in most industrialized countries, the population of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is ageing. The following graph illustrates the archipelago population in 1999 (green line) and 2006 (blue line). The positive slope of the orange curve, which illustrates the percentage difference between 1999 and 2006, shows that the population younger than 45 years of age has decreased, while the population aged 55 years and over has increased.

In Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, 45% of the population aged 15 years and over are married, 42% are single and 13% are either widowed or divorced. Over 82% of the local population was born in the archipelago, whereas 15% was born in France, and the remainder come from abroad.