Job Vacancy in Canada (first quarter 2016) – Declined by 72,000 (-17.9%)

There were 328,000 job vacancies among Canadian employers in the first quarter, and the job vacancy rate was 2.1%.

Compared with the first quarter of 2015, the number of job vacancies declined by 72,000 (-17.9%), and the job vacancy rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points.

Job vacancy rate declines in most provinces and territories
From the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, the job vacancy rate declined in nine provinces and two territories, with the largest decreases occurring in Alberta and Saskatchewan. At the same time, the job vacancy rate increased in Nunavut, and was little changed in New Brunswick.

The job vacancy rate refers to the share of jobs that are unfilled out of all payroll jobs available. It represents the number of job vacancies expressed as a percentage of labour demand, that is, the sum of all occupied and vacant jobs.

Chart 1
Job vacancy rate by province and territory, first quarter 2015 and first quarter 2016

Since 2015, payroll employment has declined in Alberta. The number of job vacancies also decreased in the province, down by 35,000 (-47.9%) from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016. Over the same period, the job vacancy rate fell from 3.5% to 1.9%.

The job vacancy rate in Saskatchewan was 2.0% in the first quarter, down from 3.0% in the same quarter a year earlier. At the same time, the number of job vacancies in the province declined by 4,900 (-34.7%).

In the first quarter, Yukon had the highest job vacancy rate at 3.0%, followed by British Columbia (2.9%) and Nunavut (2.7%).

Prince Edward Island (1.2%), Quebec (1.6%) and New Brunswick (1.6%) had the lowest job vacancy rates.

Of the 10 economic regions with the highest job vacancy rates in Canada, 9 were in the western provinces or in the territories and 1 was in Ontario. Meanwhile, 6 of the 10 economic regions with the lowest job vacancy rates were in Quebec. There are 76 economic regions in Canada.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  The Daily — Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, first quarter 2016