Canada – Job vacancies rate at its lowest level since the data are published

Canadian businesses reported 200,000 job vacancies in December, down 21,000 compared with 12 months earlier. There were 6.3 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 5.7 in December 2012. The increase in the unemployment-to-job vacancies ratio was the result of fewer job vacancies, as the number of unemployed people was little changed.

Unemployment-to-job vacancies ratio increases in Alberta and Saskatchewan

In Alberta, there were 2.3 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 1.9 in December 2012, as the number of unemployed people in the province increased. The ratio for Saskatchewan was 2.4, up from 1.8 a year earlier, as the number of vacancies fell faster than the number of unemployed people.

The highest ratio in December was in Prince Edward Island, at 20.2 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 8.1 in December 2012 (see “Data quality” in the Note to readers). This was all a result of fewer job vacancies over this period, as the number of unemployed people was essentially unchanged.

In the remaining provinces, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratios were little changed compared with December 2012.

Job vacancy rates

Data from this survey are also used to calculate the job vacancy rate, which is defined as the number of vacant positions divided by total labour demand, that is, occupied positions plus vacant positions. It corresponds to the share of jobs that are unfilled out of all payroll jobs available. Higher job vacancy rates are often associated with periods of economic growth, while lower rates may be associated with periods of slower growth or economic contraction.

In December, the national job vacancy rate among Canadian businesses was 1.3%, down from 1.5% posted 12 months earlier.

Chart 3 Job vacancy rate, by province, three-month average, December 2012 and December 2013

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  The Daily — Job vacancies, three-month average ending in December 2013.

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