Job vacancies fall for third month, while health care sector rebounds with a 17,600 rise in payroll
Payroll employment increased by 32,800 (0.2 percent) in July, following a decline in June of 22,900 (0.1 percent).
According to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, payroll employment had risen for five consecutive months before the June decline.
Year-over-year, payroll employment was up by 157,700 (0.9 percent). Meanwhile, job vacancies fell by 22,400 (4.1 percent), totalling 526,900 in July, marking the third straight monthly decline. Job vacancies in July were down by nearly 50 percent from their May 2022 peak.
In July 2024, five of the 20 sectors saw payroll employment growth. Health care and social assistance recorded the highest increase at 17,600 (0.7 percent), followed by public administration (8,000 or 0.6 percent) and retail trade (2,300 or 0.1 percent).
However, these gains were partially offset by declines in five other sectors, including manufacturing (-6,200 or 0.4 percent), construction (-2,400 or 0.2 percent), and administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services (-2,400 or 0.3 percent). The other ten sectors showed little change.
The health care and social assistance sector more than recovered from its June losses. Payroll employment in this sector grew by 17,600 (0.7 percent) in July, reversing the decrease in June (-5,000 or 0.2 percent).
Since September 2022, this sector has seen a cumulative increase of 176,600 (8.0 percent). General medical and surgical hospitals, child day-care services, and nursing care facilities accounted for 56 percent of this growth.
Public administration also saw a notable increase in payroll employment in July, rising by 8,000 (0.6 percent). This sector recorded smaller gains in June (2,600 or 0.2 percent) and a decline in May (-6,000 or 0.5 percent).
The increase in July was driven by local, municipal, and regional public administration (3,400 or 0.7 percent), federal government public administration (2,400 or 0.6 percent), and provincial and territorial public administration (2,000 or 0.6 percent).
On a year-over-year basis, public administration payroll employment was up by 39,900 (3.1 percent).
Retail trade saw payroll employment increase by 2,300 (0.1 percent) in July, following a decline in June (-11,500 or 0.6 percent). Since February 2023, the sector has seen a net payroll employment loss of 33,400 (1.6 percent).
This trend has been driven by declines in clothing and accessories retailers, building material dealers, and furniture and electronics stores.
In July, payroll employment in manufacturing declined by 6,200 (0.4 percent), continuing the trend from June (-5,000 or 0.3 percent). Food manufacturing and plastics and rubber products manufacturing were among the hardest-hit subsectors, while paper manufacturing saw a small increase.
Construction saw payroll employment decline by 2,400 (0.2 percent) in July, the second consecutive month of decline. Heavy and civil engineering, non-residential construction, and specialty trade contractors contributed to this decline, while residential construction saw a slight increase.
Average weekly earnings rose by 1.0 percent in July, reaching $1,268. This follows gains of 0.4 percent in June and 0.7 percent in May. On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings were up 4.5 percent. Meanwhile, average weekly hours worked remained steady at 33.5 hours.
Job vacancies continued to decline in July, falling by 22,400 (4.1 percent) to 526,900. The job vacancy rate fell to 3.0 percent in July, down from 4.0 percent a year earlier. The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased to 2.7, reflecting fewer job openings.
The decrease in job vacancies was driven by declines in six sectors, including transportation and warehousing (-8,100 or 24.3 percent), accommodation and food services (-6,500 or 11.3 percent), and manufacturing (-5,800 or 15.7 percent).
Vacancies in accommodation and food services, despite their decline, still maintained the second-highest vacancy rate (3.8 percent) after health care and social assistance (5.1 percent).
Job vacancies decreased in four provinces, with Ontario and Manitoba among those experiencing the largest declines. British Columbia had the highest job vacancy rate in July at 3.6 percent, while Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest at 1.9 percent.
Year-over-year, vacancy rates decreased in nine provinces.
