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January 30, 2019JOB VACANCIES, OCTOBER 2018 In the 3 months ending in October 2018, there was an average of 6,800 job vacancies in Nova Scotia (unadjusted for seasonality). This is 500 more than reported in the same month of 2017.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate, the share of labour demand that is unfilled, was 1.7 per cent in October. This is 10 percentage points higher than observed for the same period in 2017. Job vacancy rates were lower in the early months of 2018, but have recently started to rise, eclipsing the previous peak in the fall of 2017.
Across Canada, job vacancy rates are highest in British Columbia (2.6 per cent), followed by Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Alberta. Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate in October was 1.7 per cent, higher than Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI and level with Saskatchewan. Compared with the same period last year, there have been increases in job vacancy rates for seven provinces, including Nova Scotia. Only PEI has seen a decline in the job vacancy rate comparing October 2017 to October 2018.
There were an average of 5.4 unemployed persons per job vacancy in Nova Scotia in the 3 months ending in October, down from 6.5 in the three months leading up to October 2017. Unlike the job vacancy rate, the ratio of unemployed persons per vacancy is signalling some labour market tightness in Nova Scotia. The national ratio of unemployed persons per job vacancy has been steadily trending down, reaching 3.3 in October 2018.
All provinces are reporting fewer unemployed persons per job vacancy in October 2018 compared with the same month last year. British Columbia currently reports the tightest labour market conditions in Canada, with a job vacancy rate of 2.6 per cent and just 2.0 unemployed persons for each job vacancy. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the most labour market slack, with 13.3 unemployed persons for each job vacancy and a job vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent. New Brunswick's labour market has experienced the fastest tightening over the last year, with a rise in the job vacancy rate and a large decline in the ratio of unemployed persons per job vacancy.
Source: Statistics Canada's Job Vacancies. CANSIM 14-10-0224-01 (formerly 284-0001), and 14-10-0226-01 (formerly 284-0003)
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