Job Vacancies Decline in Canada for Second Quarter 2024

Job vacancies in Canada continued to decline in the second quarter of 2024, with a total decrease of 59,000 positions, representing a 9.2% drop. This marks the eighth consecutive quarterly decline from a peak of 983,600 vacancies in the same quarter of 2022. The current total of job vacancies stands at 582,600.

The decline in job vacancies was observed across various employment types:

• Permanent positions decreased by 43,400 (8.3%)
• Temporary positions fell by 15,600 (12.9%)
• Full-time positions dropped by 45,400 (9.5%)
• Part-time positions decreased by 13,600 (8.3%)

Despite the decline in vacancies, payroll employment saw an increase of 62,000 (+0.4%) in the same period. The overall labour demand, which includes both filled and vacant positions, remained relatively unchanged compared to the previous quarter and the same quarter of the previous year.

The job vacancy rate, defined as the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand, decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.3%. This rate is the lowest recorded since the first quarter of 2020.

Job vacancies fell in seven out of ten broad occupational groups, with the most significant reductions occurring in:

• Trades, transport, and equipment operators: down by 19,200 (15.3%)
• Sales and service occupations: down by 18,400 (9.9%)
• Business, finance, and administration: down by 4,600 (5.8%)
• Natural and applied sciences: down by 4,500 (9.6%)

The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased to 2.4 unemployed persons for every job vacancy, indicating a trend that has been rising since the third quarter of 2022. This increase is attributed to the decline in job vacancies combined with a rise in the number of unemployed individuals, which increased by 315,600 (+29.9%) as estimated in the Labour Force Survey.