OTTAWA – The number of vacancies in Canada reached its highest level in March, ending a five-month decline, Canadian Statistics said on Thursday.
The agency said employers were aiming for more than one million positions in early March, an increase of 186,000 positions or 22.6% compared to February and 382,000 or 60.5% over the previous year.
The seasonally adjusted vacancy rate, which measures the number of vacancies as a ratio of all positions, was 5.9 percent in March, corresponding to a record high in September 2021.
Vacancies are increasing by more than a third in accommodation, food services and retail, while there are record vacancies in healthcare, social assistance and construction.
Employers in the accommodation and food services sector sought to fill 158,000 positions, with the vacancy rate of 12.8 per cent being the highest of all sectors for the 11th consecutive month.
There were 109,000 vacancies at retail and a record 154,000 vacancies in healthcare and 82,000 in construction.
Vacancies increased in all provinces with the largest increases in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Prior to March, job vacancies had been declining for five consecutive months due to seasonal patterns of increased economic activity leading to higher labor demand.
A record low unemployment rate of 5.3% and a record high labor force participation rate of 88.6% led to an average of 1.2 unemployed for each job in March, down from 1.4 in February and 2, 6 in March 2021
Ratios are lowest in Quebec and British Columbia and highest in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Meanwhile, average weekly earnings increased by 0.9% compared to February and by 4.3% on an annual basis, a double increase seen a month earlier. The consumer price index increased by 6.7% in March compared to March 2021.
Statistics from Canada also said that the number of people working in retail exceeded the level before the pandemic for the first time in March.
Retail jobs increased by 0.7%, or 14,800 positions since February, to move 9,600 jobs ahead of what they were in February 2020.
Employment in the sector was at or above two years earlier in all provinces except Ontario and Manitoba, which were 5,400 and 2,100 positions less, respectively, than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. caused mass layoffs.
More than half of the retail subsectors reported an increase in employment in March, driven by food and beverages (up to 7,400 jobs) and clothing and accessories stores (an increase of 3,300).
Employment in grocery stores was 2.8% above its pre-pandemic level in March, but jobs in beer, wine and spirits stores were 5.1% or 2,600 below their level in February 2020.
Overall, the agency said employment had increased by 118,000 or 0.7% between February and March to 17.3 million as public health measures were eased and capacity constraints were lifted altogether.
Profits were driven by the services sector, with seven provinces seeing an increase led by Quebec, which reopened bars, taverns and casinos on 28 February.
All provinces except Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador surpassed pre-pandemic levels in March.
This Canadian Press report was first published on May 26, 2022.
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