The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce says its job quality index fell 3.8 per cent in the last six months, a period Statistics Canada says employment actually showed a slight improvement.

Ironically, at the height of the recession, the quality index nudged down only 0.2 per cent as 356,600 Canadians were losing their jobs.

The bank says in the past six months, part-time employment and self-employment has risen, but full-time employment fallen.

More importantly, says the bank, any gain in employment during the period was through the addition of low-paying work, while high-paying jobs declined about three per cent.

In keeping with the finding, real wages and salaries fell 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2009, just when the labour market carnage was easing.