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July 09, 2021LABOUR MARKET TRENDS - JUNE 2021 Labour force survey results reflect the period from June 13 to 19. Compared to the May reference week, public health restrictions were significantly eased in several jurisdictions. With varying degrees of restrictions, there was indoor and outdoor dining, recreation, retail shopping and personal care services open in eight provinces. Ontario’s stay-at-home order was lifted on June 2 and in-person non-essential shopping resumed on June 11 while indoor dining, gyms, and personal care services remained close through the reference week. Manitoba was under tight public health restrictions. Nova Scotia began its phased reopening plan at the beginning of June and moved into phase 2 in the middle of the LFS reference week (June 16).
Nova Scotia’s seasonally adjusted employment level increased 13,800 (+3.1%) to 457,500 in June 2021 as phased re-opening occurred. Employment had declined in the previous 2 months with a drop of 22,200 in May and 900 in April.
Nova Scotia’s employment was 2.0% below the pre-COVID level of February 2020 with 9,500 fewer jobs.
Nova Scotia’s labour force increased 10,700 (+2.2%) to 502,800 in June. The labour force in June was lower by 4,800 (-0.9%) than the February 2020 level with population growth of 7,900 (+1.0%) over the same period. The number of unemployed persons decreased 3,100 compared to last month but is 4,700 higher compared to February 2020.
With a smaller increase in labour force than employment, the unemployment rate decreased 0.8 percentage points from last month to 9.0% in June 2021.
In June, full-time employment was unchanged at 367,000 position and part-time employment gained 13,900 (+18.1%). Compared to February 2020, full-time employment was lower by 9,100 (-2.4%) while part time employment was lower by 300 (-0.3%).
The participation rate was up 1.2 percentage points to 61.3% in June 2021. This was 1.2 percentage points below the February 2020 level. The number of persons not in the labour force declined 9,700 (-3.0%) to 316,900 in June 2021, still elevated from levels seen in March 2021 prior to the third-wave.
In addition to the employment decline from February 2020, there were elevated numbers of persons who are counted as employed, but have zero hours (for non-routine reasons like vacation, maternity/parental leave, labour dispute) or had their hours cut by 50% or more.
In June 2021 in Nova Scotia there were 31,800 persons employed but at less than 50% of their usual hours (including zero hours), down from 45,900 in May 2021 and still elevated by 12,000 compared to 19,800 in February 2020. Compared to just before third-wave lockdown (March 2021), there were still an elevated number of people employed at fewer than usual hours.
Employment losses and substantially reduced hours combine to account for 4.6% of Nova Scotia’s February 2020 employment level. A decrease from 10.6% in May 2021; this measure reached a peak of 28.1% in April 2020. The largest total employment/hour impact in June 2021 was Ontario (5.0%) and the smallest impacts were in British Columbia (0.1%).
Statistics Canada reported in supplemental information that Nova Scotia had a decrease of 4,000 (May-21 to Jun-21) of people who were not in the labour force but wanted to work, currently at 19,300 people. The number of people not in labour force and wanting work is 6,000 more than February 2020.
The labour underutilization rate (COVID-19 impact definition) is the proportion of the potential labour force (labour force + those wanting work) that is either unemployed, not in labour force but wanted work or employed but have lost the majority of their usual hours.
In February 2020, Nova Scotia's labour underutilization rate was 14.1%. This underutilization increased to 37.1% in April 2020 and subsequently fell 15.5% in April 2021, before rising to 22.8% in May 2021 and declining to 18.5% in June.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest labour underutilization in June 2021 at 22.9% while British Columbia (13.2%) reported the lowest.
Age Cohorts
When compared to February 2020, the shortfall in employment was attributable to declines in the youth (ages 15-24) and the core-age cohorts (ages 25-54). Employment among core-aged workers declined 5,300 while labour force declined by 5,500 from February 2020 to June 2021. In the youth cohort (ages 15-24), employment declined 7,300 and labour force was down 5,800. For older workers (aged 55+), employment was up 3,100 while labour force was up 6,500.
The unemployment rate decreased across all age groups in Nova Scotia in June 2021 except youth cohort. Compared to the previous month, the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 16.6% for youth workers (ages 15-24) and decreased 1.3 percentage points to 7.1% for core-aged workers (aged 25-54). For older workers (ages 55 and over), the unemployment rate went down 0.5 percentage points to 9.2% in June.
The participation rate and employment rate were up across all age cohorts in June with the largest increases seen in youth.
The participation rate for younger Nova Scotians increased by 5.8 percentage points to 68.7% in June. For core-aged workers, the participation rate was slightly up 0.1 percentage points to 86.4% and for older workers, the participation rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 34.5%.
Compared to May 2021, employment rate for youth workers increased by 4.8 percentage points to 57.3% in June. The employment rate was up 1.2 percentage points to 80.3% for core-aged workers, and 1.1 percentage points to 31.3% for older Nova Scotians.
Compared with February 2020, employment rates were down for youth (-5.8 percentage points), core-aged workers (-1.6 percentage points) while employment rates were slightly up for older workers (+0.1 percentage points).
Males and Females
Compared to pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020, female employment was down 5,200 and male employment was down 4,200 in June 2021. Over the same period, female labour force declined 3,700 while male labour force was down 1,100. The number of unemployed females increased 1,600 and the number of males was up 3,100. The number of females not in the labour force was up 7,900 from February 2020 while the male population not in the labour force was up 4,900.
The decline in female employment was concentrated in full-time jobs (-9,500) while part-time employment among females was higher (+4,400) than in February 2020. Male full-time employment was up 400 from pre-pandemic while males with part-time employment was 4,600 lower.
In June 2021, the monthly unemployment rate decreased 1.0 percentage points to 7.8% for female workers and 0.7 percentage points to 10.2% for male workers.
The June 2021 participation rate increased by 1.2 percentage points both for female and male workers, to 58.2% and 64.7%, respectively.
The monthly employment rate was up 1.7 percentage points to 53.7% for females and was up 1.5 percentage points to 58.1% for males.
Sectors and Industries
The monthly employment increase in June was concentrated in private sector employees (+10,300) and the self-employed (+3,200) while public sector employment rose marginally (+300).
For June, goods-producing sector employment was down 4,200 jobs with larger declines in manufacturing (-2,400), construction (-1,300), and agriculture (-1,300). Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas employment was up 900.
Service-producing sector employment increased 18,000 in June. Employment gains in wholesale/retail trade (+7,700), transportation/warehousing (+2,700) and accommodation and food services (+2,500) were the largest, but only the other services subsector was down.
For June 2021 compared to February 2020, employment was lower in the private sector (-21,500) while self-employed (+3,200) and public sector employment (+8,900) have increased.
Employment since February 2020 was 500 lower in goods-production industries with a 3,800 decline in manufacturing offsetting gains in all the other subsectors.
Service-producing employment was lower by 8,900 since February 2020 with significantly lower levels in wholesale/retail trade (-7,600), information, culture and recreation (-4,500), and accommodation and food services (-10,500).
Employment levels were notably higher in June 2021 than February 2020 in transportation/warehousing (+5,500) and professional, scientific and technical services (+6,200).
Regions – June 2021 vs June 2020 (unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Regional results for June are three month moving averages from the period April-June. Changes do not reflect the full extent of employment volatility observed in monthly results for the province as a whole.
Compared with June 2020, Cape Breton employment increased by 2,300 (+5.1%) while labour force was down 200 (-0.4%). The number of unemployed people decreased 2,500 and the unemployment rate decreased by 4.5 percentage points to 14.2% in June 2021.
For the North Shore region, the labour force increased 6,600 and employment was up 10,000. The number of unemployed people was down 3,400 which resulted in a 5.6 percentage point decline in the unemployment rate to 7.5%. The number of persons not in the labour force declined by 6,900 compared to June 2020.
The Annapolis Valley reported an increase both in labour force (+7,600) and employment (+8,900) when compared to June 2020. The unemployment rate declined 3.7 percentage points to 8.5%. The number of persons not in the labour force declined 7,000 from a year earlier.
In the Southern region, labour force increased 2,400 while employment grew by 5,100 people when compared to June 2020. The number of unemployed was down 2,700 and the unemployment rate declined 5.3 percentage points to 7.0% in June 2021. The number of persons not in the labour force declined 2,700 from a year earlier.
In the Halifax region, the labour force posted an increase of 16,800 (+7.0%) while employment has increased 22,400 (+10.6%) compared to June 2020. The number of unemployed was down 5,600 and the unemployment rate fell to 8.8%. The number of persons not in the labour force decreased by 10,000 in Halifax from a year ago.
Provincial Comparisons
Employment increased month-over-month in five provinces in June with Nova Scotia reporting the largest increase (+3.1%). Prince Edward Island (-1.8%) reported the largest decline.
Nationally, employment was up 1.2% from last month in June.
Compared to February 2020, the labour force is lower in four provinces including Nova Scotia. British Columbia (+2.2%) has seen the largest growth in labour force from pre-pandemic levels. The largest declines in the labour force since February 2020 to June 2021 was in Saskatchewan (-2.3%).
Employment is lower compared to pre-pandemic levels in all provinces except British Columbia. The largest employment declines since February 2020 are in Prince Edward Island (-4.9%) and Saskatchewan (-2.8%).
The highest unemployment rate for June 2021 was in Newfoundland and Labrador at 13.0% and the lowest was in Quebec at 6.3%. Canada’s unemployment rate was 7.8% in June. Unemployment rates were higher in all provinces compared to February 2020.
National Comparisons: Cities (Monthly, 3 month moving average)
The unemployment rate for Halifax Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in June 2021 was 8.8% (seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average). Trois-Rivieres at 4.4% had the lowest unemployment rate among CMAs while the highest was in Windsor (11.8%).
The seasonally adjusted employment rate for Halifax was 61.5%, down 0.9 percentage points compared to last month. Regina (65.3%) had the highest employment rate while Belleville (48.6%) had the lowest among CMAs.
Halifax’s employment (3 month moving average) for June 2021 was down 1.4% compared to the May 2021 result. The employment level (Apr-Jun) average compared to previous average (Mar-May) was up by the largest in Trois-Rivières (+2.1) and decreased the most in Belleville (-10.6%).
Note: Seasonally adjusted, 3 month average.
Sources:
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0294-01 Labour force characteristics by census metropolitan area, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, last 5 months
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0293-01 Labour force characteristics by economic region, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, last 5 months
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0355-01 Employment by industry, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, and trend-cycle, last 5 months (x 1,000)
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0288-01 Employment by class of worker, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, last 5 months (x 1,000)
Statistics Canada. Table: 14-10-0380-02 Labour force characteristics, three month moving average, seasonally adjusted (x 1,000)
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