October sees payroll employment drop by 21,100, with manufacturing and retail trade hit hardest
Statistics Canada reported a decline in payroll employment in October, with the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from employers decreasing by 21,100, or 0.1 percent.
This drop followed months of minimal change in September and August. On a yearly basis, however, payroll employment increased by 125,800, reflecting a 0.7 percent growth.
Seven of 20 sectors experienced declines in October, with notable losses in manufacturing (-5,900; -0.4 percent), professional, scientific, and technical services (-3,700; -0.3 percent), and accommodation and food services (-3,500; -0.3 percent).
Gains in sectors such as retail trade (+4,200; +0.2 percent), construction (+3,400; +0.3 percent), public administration (+3,300; +0.3 percent), and health care and social assistance (+3,300; +0.1 percent) partially offset these decreases.
Manufacturing payroll employment continued its decline from the June 2023 peak, losing 18,200 jobs, or 1.2 percent, by October.
Transportation equipment manufacturing (-8,000; -3.9 percent) accounted for the largest share of these losses, followed by furniture and related product manufacturing (-3,500; -5.3 percent) and computer and electronic product manufacturing (-2,700; -4.8 percent).
Job vacancies fell by 15,000 (-2.8 percent) to 513,200 in October. This decline marked nearly a halving of vacancies from the May 2022 peak of over 1 million.
Compared to October 2023, vacancies were down by 159,400, a 23.7 percent drop. The job vacancy rate also decreased to 2.9 percent, down from 3.8 percent a year earlier.
The ratio of unemployed persons to job vacancies increased slightly to 2.8 in October, up from 2.7 in September. This reflected a cooling labour market, with a rise in unemployment relative to available positions over the year.
Retail trade recorded the most significant drop in vacancies, falling by 5,700 (-12.1 percent) to 41,400. This level was the lowest since April 2016. Transportation and warehousing saw vacancies decline by 5,600 (-18.7 percent) to 24,400, reaching their lowest point since March 2020. Manufacturing vacancies also dropped by 4,600 (-13.2 percent) to 30,400.
In contrast, health care and social assistance was the only sector to show an increase, adding 7,700 vacancies (+6.7 percent). Despite the gains, job vacancies in this sector were still down 14.1 percent year-over-year.
The accommodation and food services sector continued to face challenges, with payroll employment dropping by 3,500 (-0.3 percent) in October, following a larger decline of 8,400 (-0.6 percent) in September.
Full-service and limited-service restaurants experienced cumulative losses of 14,000 jobs (-1.4 percent) across the two months. On an annual basis, payroll employment in this sector decreased by 13,700 (-1 percent).
In retail trade, payroll employment rose by 4,200 (+0.2 percent) in October, partially recovering from September’s 8,400-job decline. However, the sector has experienced an overall downward trend since February, losing 21,200 jobs (-1.1 percent) during that period.
Construction showed positive momentum, adding 3,400 jobs (+0.3 percent) in October, marking its first increase since June.
Average weekly earnings rose by 0.5 percent in October to $1,284, following little movement in September. On a yearly basis, earnings grew by 5.3 percent. Changes in wages, employment composition, and hours worked contributed to this growth.
Average weekly hours, however, fell by 0.3 percent to 33.4 hours, both monthly and annually.
Across provinces, Alberta experienced the largest decline in vacancies, dropping by 8,700 (-12 percent) to 63,700 in October. Manitoba saw an increase of 2,300 (+12 percent), bringing the total to 21,900.
British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba reported the highest vacancy rates at 3.5 percent, while Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the lowest at 2.1 percent.
