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April 27, 2023JOB VACANCIES, FEBRUARY 2023 Statistics Canada released today monthly job vacancy results for February 2023. The data in this article refers to seasonally adjusted data.
Nova Scotia had 20,505 job vacancies in February 2023 with a vacancy rate of 4.4%.
Canadian employers were actively recruiting for 841,265 positions in February with a vacancy rate of 4.7%.
The highest vacancy rates were reported in British Columbia and Quebec while the lowest vacancy rate was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Compared to the previous month, job vacancy rate declined in all provinces with the exception of Saskatchewan where it stayed the same. Nova Scotia’s job vacancy rate declined 0.1 percentage points from January 2023.
When compared to February 2022, job vacancy rate stayed the same in Nova Scotia declined 0.2 percentage points. Nationally, job vacancy rate declined from 5.3% to 4.7%.
Compared with February 2022, vacancy rates were declined in nine provinces. Saskatchewan was the only province who reported a year-over-year increase in February 2023.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rates trended up for most of 2021 and early 2022 before declining through early 2023.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia were 20,505 in February 2023, up from the 19,915 job vacancies reported in February 2022.
When compared to January 2023, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia remained unchanged. National job vacancies declined 4.0% over the same period with declines in all provinces except Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Comparing February 2023 against February 2022, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia was up 3.0%. National job vacancies declined 8.7% over the same period with decreases in six provinces. New Brunswick and Ontario reported the largest declines while Sakstachewan and Nova Scotia reported the largest increases in job vacancies.
Nationally, the accommodation and food services sector had the highest job vacancy rate (8.1%) and the second highest number of job vacancies at 116,760. This industry has had the highest vacancy rate among all industries for over a year.
After accommodation and food services, the next highest job vacancy rates in Canada were reported in personal and repair services, health care and social assistance, and administration, support and waste management. The lowest vacancy rates were in education and public administration.
Health care and social assistance had the highest number of vacancies at 143,820 in February. Both the number of vacancies and the job vacancy rate (6.0%) increased compared to February 2022.
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.
Information on monthly job vacancies will continue in future Statistics Canada releases, and a more detailed analysis will be released with quarterly estimates from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.
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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