Payroll employment drops in June, while job vacancies remain unchanged, signalling a cooling labour market
Statistics Canada reported a decrease in payroll employment for June, with the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employers dropping by 47,300, a decline of 0.3 percent.
This reduction comes after five consecutive months of growth from January to May, during which 147,600 jobs were added, reflecting a 0.8 percent increase. However, on a year-over-year basis, payroll employment still showed a positive trend, with a gain of 110,400 jobs, or 0.6 percent.
In June, job vacancies remained steady at 554,000, though they were significantly lower compared to the same period last year, down by 190,500, or 25.6 percent.
The decline in payroll employment was evident in 11 out of 20 sectors.
The most notable drops occurred in retail trade (down by 15,100 jobs or 0.8 percent), manufacturing (down by 10,600 jobs or 0.7 percent), construction (down by 7,700 jobs or 0.7 percent), and administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services (down by 6,600 jobs or 0.8 percent).
The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector was the only one to see growth, adding 2,500 jobs, an increase of 1.2 percent. The other sectors showed little to no change.
The retail trade sector, which has been in decline since its peak in February 2023, saw a further reduction in payroll employment in June, with a loss of 15,100 jobs, or 0.8 percent. Over the period from February 2023 to June 2024, the sector experienced a net loss of 39,300 jobs, or 1.9 percent.
Seven of the nine retail subsectors saw declines, with the most significant losses in sporting goods, hobby, musical instruments, book, and miscellaneous retailers (down by 3,500 jobs or 1.7 percent), clothing and accessories retailers (down by 3,400 jobs or 1.6 percent), and general merchandise retailers (down by 2,200 jobs or 0.8 percent).
In the manufacturing sector, payroll employment dropped by 10,600 jobs, or 0.7 percent, in June, reversing the slight increase of 2,600 jobs, or 0.2 percent, seen in May. On a year-over-year basis, the sector lost 18,000 jobs, or 1.1 percent.
Nine out of 21 manufacturing subsectors recorded declines, with the largest decreases in wood product manufacturing (down by 1,200 jobs or 1.3 percent), non-metallic mineral product manufacturing (down by 1,100 jobs or 2.1 percent), and furniture and related product manufacturing (down by 900 jobs or 1.4 percent).
These losses were partly offset by gains in computer and electronic product manufacturing (up by 700 jobs or 1.2 percent) and electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing (up by 400 jobs or 0.9 percent).
The construction sector saw a decline in payroll employment in June, losing 7,700 jobs, or 0.7 percent, following little change in May and an increase in April. Despite this monthly decline, the sector has experienced a net gain of 5,900 jobs, or 0.5 percent, from January to June 2024.
The June decrease was spread across eight of the ten construction industries, with the largest drops in other specialty trade contractors (down by 2,600 jobs or 1.9 percent), utility system construction (down by 1,400 jobs or 1.9 percent), and residential building construction (down by 1,100 jobs or 0.6 percent).
Building equipment contractors was the only industry in this sector to see growth, adding 500 jobs, or 0.1 percent.
In the administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services sector, payroll employment continued its downward trend, falling by 6,600 jobs, or 0.8 percent, in June. This decline follows drops of 2,800 jobs, or 0.3 percent, in May, and 3,000 jobs, or 0.4 percent, in April.
The most significant losses in June were in employment services (down by 3,600 jobs or 1.8 percent), investigation and security services (down by 1,400 jobs or 1.0 percent), and services to buildings and dwellings (down by 1,300 jobs or 0.6 percent).
However, the travel arrangement and reservation services industry saw a slight increase of 500 jobs, or 1.4 percent.
Average weekly earnings in June remained relatively stable compared to the previous month, standing at $1,253. This follows a 0.7 percent increase in May. On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings grew by 4.0 percent in June, slightly below the 4.1 percent growth recorded in May.
The average weekly hours worked were unchanged from the previous month but increased by 0.6 percent year-over-year to 33.5 hours.
Job vacancies held steady in June at 554,000, with the job vacancy rate remaining at 3.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in June 2023. The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased slightly to 2.6, up from 2.5 in May, continuing a trend of rising unemployment relative to job vacancies since July 2022.
Five sectors recorded increases in job vacancies in June:
- Administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services: up by 4,200 jobs (16.0 percent)
- Transportation and warehousing: up by 3,800 jobs (12.4 percent)
- Educational services: up by 3,200 jobs (16.3 percent)
- Information and cultural industries: up by 2,600 jobs (54.6 percent)
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation: up by 1,100 jobs (16.3 percent)
However, job vacancies decreased in accommodation and food services (down by 7,300 jobs or 10.8 percent), finance and insurance (down by 4,900 jobs or 20.9 percent), and other services except public administration (down by 4,900 jobs or 18.6 percent).
The accommodation and food services sector recorded its lowest number of job vacancies since February 2021, with 59,900 vacancies in June, a decrease of 7,300 vacancies, or 10.8 percent, from the previous month. This represents a decline of 33,100 vacancies, or 35.6 percent, compared to June 2023.
Total labour demand in this sector also fell by 8,000 jobs, or 0.6 percent, in June, and was down by 36,500 jobs, or 2.6 percent, year-over-year.
The job vacancy rate in this sector decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 4.4 percent in June, resulting in a cumulative year-over-year decline of 2.2 percentage points.
Consequently, the health care and social assistance sector, with a job vacancy rate of 4.8 percent, overtook accommodation and food services as the sector with the highest job vacancy rate in June.
In the transportation and warehousing sector, job vacancies increased by 3,800 jobs, or 12.4 percent, to 34,400 in June, partially offsetting a decline from March to April. Year-over-year, job vacancies in this sector decreased by 4,800 jobs, or 12.2 percent.
The job vacancy rate in transportation and warehousing rose by 0.4 percentage points to 3.9 percent in June but remained 0.6 percentage points lower than in June 2023.
The health care and social assistance sector saw job vacancies remain steady at 119,500 in June, following little change in the previous two months. Job vacancies in this sector have stayed high compared to pre-pandemic levels, accounting for 21.6 percent of all vacancies in June.
The job vacancy rate in this sector remained unchanged at 4.8 percent in June, although it was down by 1.1 percentage points from June 2023.
In June, three provinces saw an increase in job vacancies: Manitoba (up by 4,300 to 24,800), New Brunswick (up by 1,800 to 10,400), and Prince Edward Island (up by 1,100 to 2,600).
Conversely, Saskatchewan experienced a decrease in job vacancies, down by 2,600 to 17,700. The other six provinces saw little change. Manitoba recorded the highest job vacancy rate at 3.9 percent in June, followed by British Columbia at 3.6 percent and Prince Edward Island at 3.5 percent.
Manitoba also had the lowest unemployment rate of any province at 5.1 percent, as well as the lowest unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio at 1.6.