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March 27, 2019JOB VACANCIES, DECEMBER 2018 In the 3 months ending in December 2018, there were an average of 6,000 job vacancies in Nova Scotia (unadjusted for seasonality). This is 700 more than reported in the same period of 2017.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate, the share of labour demand that is unfilled, was 1.5 per cent in December. This is 0.1 percentage points higher than observed for the same period in 2017. Job vacancy rates were lower in the early months of 2018, but rose through the second half of the year, eclipsing the previous peak in the fall of 2017.
Across Canada, job vacancy rates are highest in British Columbia (2.2 per cent), followed by Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The lowest job vacancy rates were in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan. Compared with the same period last year, the job vacancy rate has increased in six provinces, including Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick had the largest increases in the job vacancy rate compared to period ending December 2017.
There were an average of 5.3 unemployed persons per job vacancy in Nova Scotia in the 3 months ending in December, down from 7.2 in the three months leading up to December 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 trending down since early 2016, sitting at 3.3 in December 2018.
Eight provinces reported fewer unemployed persons per job vacancy in December 2018 compared with the same period last year. British Columbia currently reports the tightest labour market conditions in Canada, with a job vacancy rate of 2.2 per cent and just 2.2 unemployed persons for each job vacancy. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the most labour market slack, with 12.3 unemployed persons for each job vacancy and a job vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent.
Source: Statistics Canada's Job Vacancies. Tables 14-10-0224-01 (formerly 284-0001), and 14-10-0226-01 (formerly 284-0003)
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