Job vacancies in Canada have continued to decline, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of decreases, according to the latest data released by Statistics Canada. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of job vacancies fell by 24,300, a 3.6% drop, bringing the total to 648,600.
The reduction in vacancies was most pronounced in permanent positions, which saw a decrease of 24,500 (4.5%). Full-time jobs experienced a larger decline (15,400 or 3.1%) compared to part-time positions (8,900 or 5.1%).
Despite the ongoing decline in job vacancies, payroll employment remained stable in the first quarter of 2024. Total labour demand, which includes both filled and vacant positions, edged down by only 0.1% from the previous quarter and remained virtually unchanged from the first quarter of 2023. The job vacancy rate, representing vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand, decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.6%, the lowest since early 2020.
The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio, an indicator of labour market tightness, rose to 2.0 in the first quarter of 2024, the highest since mid-2021. This increase is attributed to both a reduction in job vacancies and a rise in the number of unemployed persons, which grew by 20.3% (214,100) since the third quarter of 2022.
The decline in job vacancies was uneven across different occupational groups. Four of the ten broad occupational categories saw significant decreases:
- Sales and service occupations fell by 17,600 (8.6%).
- Trades, transport, and equipment operators by 7,800 (5.8%).
- Education, law, social, community, and government services by 3,200 (5.1%).
- Natural resources, agriculture, and related production by 1,700 (10.5%).
Conversely, the natural and applied sciences sector saw an increase of 2,300 vacancies (5.1%). Job vacancies in health, business, finance, and administrative occupations, as well as in manufacturing and utilities, showed little change from the previous quarter.
Year over year, the proportion of long-term vacancies, where recruitment efforts have been ongoing for 90 days or more, has decreased in five of the ten broad occupational groups. Notable declines were observed in manufacturing and utilities (down 11.9 percentage points to 30.7%) and natural resources, agriculture, and related production (down 7.8 percentage points to 30.5%). Health occupations, however, saw an increase in long-term vacancies, rising by 4 percentage points to 55.7%.
Sales and service occupations continued to drive the overall decline in vacancies, with a reduction of 17,600 positions (8.6%) to 186,800 in the first quarter. This group represented 28.8% of all job vacancies. Year over year, vacancies in this sector dropped by 82,200 (33.6%).
Trades, transport, and equipment operators also saw a decline, with vacancies decreasing by 7,800 (5.8%) in the first quarter. Year over year, this category experienced a significant drop of 39,300 vacancies (25.6%).
Health occupations recorded 93,700 job vacancies in the first quarter, remaining stable from both the previous quarter and year over year. The consistency in vacancies for health professionals highlights the persistent demand in this sector.
The average offered hourly wage for vacant positions grew by 7.3% year over year to $27.25 in the first quarter of 2024. This growth rate is higher than the 5.1% increase in average hourly wages for all employees, indicating a shift towards higher-wage occupations. The wage increase was most notable in sectors such as central control and process operators, and aircraft assemblers and inspectors.
Regionally, job vacancies declined in six provinces: Manitoba, New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Conversely, the Northwest Territories and Prince Edward Island saw significant increases in job vacancies. Among economic regions, Winnipeg and Montréal experienced the largest declines, contributing significantly to the overall provincial decreases.