The risk and cost of job loss in Canada, 1978-2008

We assess the risk and cost of worker displacement in Canada over the last three decades. We show that neither the risk of job loss nor the shortterm earnings losses of displaced workers trended upwards during that period. However, shortterm earnings losses of workers displaced from manufacturing increased in recent years, as a smaller proportion found a postdisplacement job in that sector. In line with Stevens and Couch and Placzek, we find that highseniority workers and individuals with stable labour market attachment experienced, five years after displacement, earnings losses that ranged between 10% and 18%.