August 2024 Employment and Job Vacancy Trends in Canada

In August 2024, payroll employment in Canada saw a minor increase of 13,500 positions, following a rise of 39,500 in July and a decline of 22,900 in June. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment increased by 176,700, marking a 1.0% rise.

Average weekly earnings for August were recorded at $1,270, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 4.6%. This follows a 4.3% increase in July. The average weekly hours worked remained stable at 33.5 hours, showing little change both month-over-month and year-over-year.

Job vacancies in August remained relatively unchanged at 518,300, after three months of consecutive declines. Compared to August 2023, job vacancies decreased by 176,300, a 25.4% drop. The job vacancy rate, which measures the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labor demand, was 2.9% in August, down from 3.0% in July and 3.9% in August 2023.

The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased to 2.8 unemployed persons per job vacancy in August, up from 2.7 in July. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly increase in this ratio.

In terms of sector-specific changes, job vacancies decreased in healthcare and social assistance, construction, and information and cultural industries, while increases were noted in other sectors.