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November 04, 2022LABOUR MARKET TRENDS, OCTOBER 2022 Labour force survey results reflect the period from October 9-15.
Ages 15+ (October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employment increased 700 (+0.1%) from September 2022, rising to 480,900 in October 2022. This is not a significant employment gain.
The change in employment was attributable to a switch out of part-time employment (-5,800) and into full-time employment (+6,500). Part-time and full-time employment have been switching back and forth for the last three months. These changes include variations in hours within the same job.
Nova Scotia’s labour force increased by 3,700 (+0.7%) to 515,700 in October 2022.
With labour force growth outpacing employment gains, Nova Scotia's unemployment rate increased from 6.2% in September 2022 to 6.7% in October 2022.
Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate was up 0.3 percentage points to 60.8% in October 2022. The employment rate was unchanged at 56.7% in October 2022.
Ages 15+ (October 2022 vs October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with October of 2021, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 had increased by 22,800 (+2.8%) while the labour force grew by 5,600 (+1.1%) and employment increased by 13,700 (+2.9%). The unemployment rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points while the participation rate fell by 1.0 percentage points. The employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points.
Ages 15+ (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with the first ten months of 2021, Nova Scotia's population has averaged 18,300 (+2.2%) higher for January to October of 2022. The labour force was up by 7,200 (+1.4%) and employment increased by 15,900 (+3.4%). The unemployment rate decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 6.6% on average in the first ten months of 2022. The year-to-date average participation rate declined by 0.5 percentage points to 61.1%. The employment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 57.1% year-to-date.
Age Cohorts (October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Among youth (ages 15-24), employment fell by 800 (-1.2%) while the labour force increased by 200 (0.3%). Because employment decreased while labour force grew, the youth unemployment rate increased from 12.3% in September to 13.6% in October. The slight rise in the youth labour force still left the youth participation rate unchanged at 66.0% while the youth employment rate fell 0.9 percentage points to 57.0%.
The population aged 25-54 makes up the largest part of the labour force. In the core age group, employment increased by 3,600 (+1.2%) and the labour force increased by 4,200 (+1.3%). Because labour force increased slightly faster than employment, the core aged unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.1% in October. The core aged participation rate rose by 0.9 percentage points to 86.5% while the core aged employment rate increased 0.7 percentage points to 82.1%.
Older workers (aged 55+) reported a decrease in labour force (-800 or -0.6%) while employment was down (-2,100 or -1.8%). With labour force declining slower than employment, the older worker unemployment rate increased 1.1 percentage points to 6.8%. The older worker participation rate was down 0.3 percentage points to 33.4% and the employment rate for older workers decreased 0.7 percentage points to 31.1%.
Males and Females (Ages 15+, October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Monthly employment edged up for both females (+300 or+ 0.1%) and for males (+400 or +0.2%). There was a faster gain male labour force (+2,400 or +0.9%) than for females (+1,200 or +0.5%) from September to October 2022.
For both males and females, the growth in the labour force was faster than the rise in employment, pushing unemployment rates up 0.7 percentage points for males (rising to 7.9%) and 0.3 percentage points for females (rising to 5.5%).
Male participation rates increased by 0.4 percentage points to 63.8% while female participation rates edged up 0.2 percentage points to 58.0%. Male employment rates were down 0.1 percentage points to 58.7% while female employment rates decreased 0.1 percentage points to 54.8% (population grew faster than employment for both males and females).
Overall, last month's employment and labour force growth was among core-aged workers while there were declines in employment for youth and older workers.
Age and sex cohorts (October 2022 vs October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with October 2021, the latest month's labour force growth was concentrated among core aged workers. Youth reported little change in labour force while older workers reported a decline. Employment gains over the last year also concentrated among core aged workers with a small increase in older workers and a decline in youth employment. Unemployment was down for all cohorts except youth. With population growing faster than labour force, the numbers not in the labour force increased for all cohorts.
Age and sex cohorts (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
On average over the first ten months of 2022, employment and labour force gains were reported in each age cohort, though growth among youth was more modest.
Class of Worker (October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
The October 2022 employment change reflected an increase in private sector workers (+2,200 or +0.7%) as well as the self-employed (+800 or +1.4%) while public sector employees (-2,300 or -1.8%) decreased.
Class of Worker (October 2022 vs October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to October 2021, there were gains in employment for private sector workers (+10,000 or +3.5%), public sector workers (+4,900 or +4.1%) while self employment was down (-1,100 or -1.9%).
Class of Worker (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with the first ten months of 2021, there were gains in employment for all classes of workers during January to October of 2022: private sector workers (+10,500 or +3.7%), public sector workers (+4,900 or +4.1%) and self employment (+600 or +1.0%).
Industry of Employment (October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
The employment change from September to October reflected notable employment increases in construction, manufacturing, transportation/warehousing and finance/insurance/real estate, offset by sizeable declines in wholesale/retail, professional/technical services, business support (including call centres), health/social (including daycares) and information/culture recreation..
Industry of Employment (October 2022 vs October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Over the last 12 months, employment has risen most sharply for construction, health/social, information/culture/recreation, manufacturing, finance/insurance/real estate, education and professional/technical services. There were notable employment losses in wholesale/retail, transportation/warehousing, business support (including call centres), agriculture and utilities.
Industry of Employment (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
On average over the first ten months of 2022 (compared with the same period last year), most industries reported employment gains. The increases in year-to-date average employment were largest for construction, professional/technical services, and health/social (including daycare) . Only agriculture, forestry/fishing/mining, utilities, wholesale/retail and transportation/warehousing reported declining employment on average in 2022.
Hours worked and employment (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, unadjusted)
Changes in unadjusted hours worked show different variations than changes in seasonally adjusted employment (comparing the average over the first nine months of 2022 with the same period in 2021). Overall employment was up by 3.4% while hours were up by 3.6%.
There were year-to-date contractions in employment for agriculture, forestry/fishing/mining, utilities, wholesale/retail and transportation. However, in agriculture and forestry/fishing/mining and transportation/warehousing, the impact on hours was milder than the contraction in employment. Loss of hours was sharper than employment decline for wholesale/retail while public administration reported fewer hours along with a slight rise in employment.
The year-to-date increases in employment were strongest in professional and technical services, personal/repair services, information/culture/recreation, and construction. Hours worked outpaced employment gains for professional/technical services as well as personal/repair services while in construction and information/culture/recreation, the gain in employment was larger than the rise in hours.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021)
Average weekly earnings increased by 4.7% from January-October 2021 to January-October 2022. Earnings were up by across most industries, with the exceptions of agriculture and information/culture/recreation. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in forestry/fishing/mining, professional and technical services and business support (which includes call centres).
The average increase in Nova Scotia's all items consumer price index was 7.4% through the first nine months of 2022, compared against the same months of 2021.
Average weekly earnings across all employees were $1,012.35 in October 2022. The highest average weekly earnings (both full and part time employees) were reported in forestry/fishing/mining, utilities, professional/technical services and public administration. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food, wholesale/retail and agriculture.
Regions (October 2022 vs October 2021, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with October 2021, employment and labour force each increased in Halifax and Annapolis Valley while labour force and employment each decreased in the North Shore and Cape Breton economic regions. In Southern Nova Scotia, employment rose while labour force contracted.
Unemployment rates declined in all regions except the North Shore. In Halifax and the Annapolis Valley employment gains outpaced the labour force change. In Cape Breton the fall in labour force was faster than the decline in employment. For Southern Nova Scotia, falling labour force and rising employment reduced the unemployment rate. In the North Shore region, the decline in employment was faster than the decline in labour force.
Participation rates were up only in the Annapolis Valley economic region. Employment rates were up only for the Annapolis Valley (Halifax's employment rate was unchanged).
Regions (January-October 2022 vs January-October 2021, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Comparing the average over the first ten months of 2022 with the same months of 2021, labour force was down for the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia economic regions. Labour force grew in Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax. Employment was up for Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax while there were declines in the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia regions.
Provincial Comparisons (October 2022 vs September 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Canada's employment increased by 108,300 (+0.6%) from September to October, the second consecutive increase after three months of declines. Prince Edward Island reported the largest percentage employment increase.
The labour force increased by 0.5% for Canada with gains in with gains in most provinces. Only Alberta reported a (small) decline. The largest increases in labour force were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
Provincial Comparisons (October 2022 vs October 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with October 2021, Nova Scotia's employment was up 2.9% while labour force expanded by 1.1%. National employment was up 2.7% while labour force increased by 0.9%. All provinces reported employment and labour force gains over this period. The fastest growth rates for both employment and labour force were in Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick reported the slowest rise in labour force while Ontario reported the slowest gain in employment.
The national unemployment rate was 5.2% in October 2022, unchanged from September 2022 and down from 6.8 % in October 2021. British Columbia and Quebec had the lowest unemployment rates while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest unemployment rate.
The national participation rate was 64.9% in October 2022. The highest participation rates were in Alberta and Saskatchewan while the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The national employment rate was 61.6% in October 2022. Alberta reported the highest employment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest.
Census Metropolitan Areas (October 2022, seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average)
The Halifax unemployment rate was 5.5% in the seasonally adjusted October 2022 three month moving average. This was just above the average for other Census Metropolitan Areas, but lower than in the rest of Nova Scotia (8.3%). In central and western provinces, unemployment rates in Census Metropolitan Areas are similar to or higher than unemployment rates outside CMAs. In the Atlantic Provinces unemployment rates are typically higher outside CMAs.
Halifax's participation rate was 66.6% in the seasonally adjusted October 2022 three month moving average while participation rates were 55.6% across the rest of the province.
Halifax reported an employment rate of 63.0% in the seasonally adjusted October 2022 three month moving average while the employment rate was 51.0% outside the city.
Sources: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0036-01 Actual hours worked by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0063-01 Employee wages by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months; Table 14-10-0380-01 Labour force characteristics, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted; Table 14-10-0387-01 Labour force characteristics, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, last 5 months; Table 14-10-0355-01 Employment by industry, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, and trend-cycle, last 5 months (x 1,000); Table 14-10-0288-01 Employment by class of worker, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, last 5 months (x 1,000); Table: 14-10-0380-02 Labour force characteristics, three month moving average, seasonally adjusted (x 1,000)
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