Since the global economic crisis hit, the number of people in Canada with jobs has been steadily decreasing. Every day, you hear about another series of lay-offs, another bankruptcy, another industry in trouble, and so on.

Experts didn’t expect April 2009 to be any different. In fact, economists expected employment to drop by around 50,000 jobs in April (Source: CBC.ca article “Canada added jobs in April: StatsCan).

However, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey employment in Canada ended up growing by around 36,000 jobs in April 2009. The number of jobs in the private and public sectors both declined slightly in April, but a surge of 37,000 newly self-employed people helped the employment numbers rebound.

A lot of people are finding it difficult to get jobs at the moment. There are few positions available and even if you do get a job, you may question how secure your position is. This is likely one of the reasons that people are turning to self-employment.

Are you out of work? Maybe self-employment would be a good option for you. It requires some thought and planning, but becoming your own boss can be rewarding and help you overcome the recession.

To determine if entrepreneurship is for you and to find out how to get your business off the ground, see:

Starting a business.