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October 31, 2024JOB VACANCIES, AUGUST 2024 Monthly (August 2024 vs July 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 13,260 job vacancies in August 2024 with a vacancy rate of 2.9%. Canadian employers were actively recruiting for 518,280 positions in August with a vacancy rate of 2.9%. The national job vacancy rate declined 0.1 percentage points in August 2024 to 2.9% with four provinces reporting lower vacancy rates from the previous month. The highest vacancy rate was reported in British Columbia and the lowest vacancy rate was reported in New Brunswick.
When compared to July 2024, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia grew 0.4% (+55 jobs). National job vacancies declined 2.1% (-11,010 jobs). Job vacancies declined in six provinces with the fastest drop in New Brunswick. Four provinces reported higher vacancies compared to the previous month, with the strongest growth in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Year-over-year (August 2024 vs August 2023)
When compared to August 2023, the job vacancy rate in Nova Scotia declined 1.0 percentage points. Nationally, the job vacancy rate declined from 3.9% to 2.9%. Compared to one year earlier, the job vacancy rate declined in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.
When compared to Augst 2023, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined 25.9% or 4,625 vacancies. National job vacancies declined 25.4% or 176,295 vacant jobs. All provinces, except Prince Edward Island, saw declines in the number of vacancies over the twelve month period ending in Augst. In percentage terms, Ontario declined the most compared to August 2023.
Trend
Nationally, job vacancy rates trended downward after peaking in March-May 2022. In August 2024, the job vacancy rate was at its lowest level since January 2018.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate peaked in the spring of 2022 and has also been on a downward trend. The Nova Scotia job vacancy rate has been below the national rate for most of this period. Augst 2024 saw a slight rise in xthe vacancy rate in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia's job vacancies peaked at 22,715 in June 2022 and have fallen to 13,260 as of August 2024.
Canada job vacancy rate and job vacancies by industry, August 2024
Nationally, health care/social assistance, personal/repair services, accommodation/food services, and admin/support/waste management industries had the highest job vacancy rates. The lowest vacancy rates were in education, information/culture and utilities.
Health care and social assistance had the highest number of vacancies at 114,720 in August 2024. Compared to August 2023, the number of vacancies declined in every industry.
Notes: The job vacancy rate is the percentage of job positions (both filled and vacant) that are vacant. A higher job vacancy rate indicates a tighter labour market where it is more difficult for employers to find suitable candidates for the positions offered. A lower job vacancy rate signals labour market slack and potentially more job seekers competing for each vacant position.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection was suspended from April to September 2020. There remains a break in this data series.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0432-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, and job vacancy rate by provinces and territories, monthly, adjusted for seasonality, Table 14-10-0406-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, and job vacancy rate by industry sector, monthly, adjusted for seasonality
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