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November 08, 2024LABOUR MARKET TRENDS, OCTOBER 2024 October labour force survey results reflect the period from October 13 to 19, 2024.
Ages 15+ (October 2024 vs September 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employment fell by 2,100 (-0.4%) to 514,000 in October following growth of 3,000 (+0.6%) in the previous month.
The change in employment was attributable to a decrease for full-time (-7,200) that more that offset the rise in part-time employment (+5,100). Note that changes in full-time and part-time employment can also reflect changing hours for the same job.
Nova Scotia’s labour force fell by 3,000 (-0.5%) to 548,200 in October 2024.
With employment falling slower than labour force, Nova Scotia's unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage point to 6.2% in October 2024.
Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 61.1% and the employment rate was down 0.3 percentage points to 57.3% in October 2024.
Ages 15+ (October 2024 vs October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with October 2023, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 increased by 25,800 (+3.0%), while the labour force grew by 9,400 (+1.7%), and employment increased by 10,300 (+2.0%). The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage points while the participation rate fell by 0.7 percentage points and the employment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points.
Ages 15+ (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January-October 2023, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 increased by 26,600 (+3.1%), while the labour force grew by 19,100 (+3.6%), and employment increased by 17,500 (+3.5%). The unemployment rate was up 0.1 percentage point with the participation rate up 0.3 percentage points and the employment rate up 0.2 percentage points.
Note: Year-to-date estimates are calculated as averages of monthly data and rounded to the nearest tenth. Year-to-date changes in the table are also rounded to the nearest tenth.
Age Cohorts (October 2024 vs September 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Among youth (ages 15-24), employment rose by 1,700 (+2.5%) while the labour force rose by 800 (+1.0%). As employment grew faster than the labour force, the youth unemployment rate declined 1.1 percentage points to 11.3% in October. The youth participation rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 62.9% while the youth employment rate was up 1.2 percentage points to 55.9%.
The population aged 25-54 makes up the largest part of the labour force. In the core age group, employment was down 1,000 (-0.3%) while the labour force fell by 1,600 (-0.5%). With employment falling slower than the labour force, the core aged unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 5.4% in October 2024. The core aged participation rate was down 0.5 percentage points to 87.7% and the core aged employment rate was down 0.4 percentage points to 83.0%.
Older workers (aged 55+) reported the labour force declined by 2,200 (-1.8%) while employment declined by 2,700 (-2.3%). With employment falling faster than labour force, the older worker unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 5.5%. The older worker participation rate declined 0.6 percentage points to 32.5% and the employment rate for older workers declined 0.7 percentage points to 30.8%.
Males and Females (Ages 15+, October 2024 vs September 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Monthly employment rose 900 (+0.3%) for males while the labour force was reported to be unchanged from September. With higher employment and an unchanged labour force, the male unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 7.3% in October. The male participation rate edged down to 64.7% and the male employment rate edged up to 60.0%.
Females reported a decline in employment of 3,000 (-1.2%) and an equivalent decline in the labour force (-1.1%). With employment and labour force declining by the same amount, the female unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1% in October. The female participation rate and employment rate both fell by 0.7 percentage points to 57.7% and 54.7%, respectively.
October's decline in employment was primarily due to falling employment among females, and core-aged and older workers. The same is true for the decline in labour force in October. There were notable increases in females, core-aged and older workers not in the labour force in October, with a smaller increase for males. There was notable employment growth for youth, who also saw a decline in unemployment.
Age and sex cohorts (October 2024 vs October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with October 2023, employment growth was strongest among core-aged workers (whose population has also grown the most over this period). Youth had the next strongest employment gains while older workers reported lower employment compared to one year ago. Male employment has increased more than for females when compared to October 2023, where females report more persons not in the labour force.
Age and sex cohorts (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January-October 2023, labour force and employment growth was highest among core-aged workers (whose population is also growing more than others). Labour force growth outpaced employment growth for core-aged workers, and, to a lesser extent, youth workers. Older workers saw a larger increase in employment than labour force. Core-aged workers had a larger increase in unemployment compared to youth and older workers as labour force growth outpaced employment growth. Population, labour force, and employment have increased more for males than females compared to January-October 2023.
Class of Worker and Industry (October 2024 vs September 2024, seasonally adjusted)
The October 2024 employment change was due to declines in public sector (-2,300, -1.6%) and private sector (-500, -0.2%) employment. Self-employed workers rose by 700 (+1.4%).
Classified by industry, the largest employment gains from September to October were in professional/technical services, construction and education. The largest decline was in wholesale/retail, followed by personal/repair services, accommodation/food services and health/social assistance.
Class of Worker and Industry (October 2024 vs October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to October 2023, there were employment gains for public sector workers (+19,500 or +16.2%), with declines for private sector workers (-4,600 or -1.4%) and self-employed (-4,600 or -8.3%).
Over the last 12 months, employment was up the most for health/social, public administration, construction, education and accommodation/food services. The largest declines were in professional/technical services, business support (including call centres) and wholesale/retail.
Class of Worker and Industry (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to January-October 2023, gains were strongest for public sector workers (+14,700 or +12.3%) followed by private sector workers (+8,800 or +2.8%). The number of self employed declined (-6,000 or -10.4%) in January-October 2024.
Gains in employment was strongest in education, public administration and accommodation/food services and the largest declines were in professional/technical services and agriculture for the first ten months of 2024.
Hours worked and employment (October 2024, unadjusted)
Compared to the provincial average, a larger share of workers in goods producing industries (except utilities), as well as transportation/warehousing, worked more than 40 hours per week in October 2024.
Note that some data on those working few hours in business support (including call centres), utilities, forestry/fishing/mining and agriculture were suppressed.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, October 2024 vs October 2023)
Average weekly earnings increased by 6.5% from October 2023 to October 2024. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in information/culture/recreation, business/support/call centres, wholesale/retail and health care/social assistance. The largest declines in average weekly wages were in agriculture (where average weekly wages were unusually high from September to November 2023), followed by accommodation/food services and finance/insurance/real estate.
The increase in Nova Scotia's all items consumer price index was 0.9% from September 2023 to September 2024.
Average weekly earnings across all employees were $1,158.83 in October 2024. The highest average weekly earnings (both full and part time employees) were reported in forestry/fishing/mining, professional/technical services, public administration, and utilities. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food services, agriculture, and wholesale/retail trade.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023)
Average weekly earnings increased 6.7% in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in utilities, manufacturing, professional/technical services, personal/repair services and health care/social assistance. Agriculture and forestry/fishing/mining registered the fastest declines in average weekly earnings in January-October 2024.
Average weekly earnings in the first ten months of 2024 were highest in utilities, professional/technical services, public administration and forestry/fishing/mining. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food services, wholesale/retail trade, agriculture and business support services (including call centres) in January-October 2024.
Regions (October 2024 vs October 2023, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with October 2023, labour force and employment increases were concentrated in Halifax. Cape Breton reported faster growth in employment than labour force, resulting in lower unemployment compared to one year ago. The North Shore labour force growth with no change in employment. Annapolis Valley reported growth in labour force and a decline in employment, leading to an increase in unemployment. Southern Nova Scotia was the only region to report lower employment and labour force compared to one year ago, resulting in more persons not in the labour force.
Unemployment rates were up in North Shore, Annapolis Valley and Southern Nova Scotia while they declined in Cape Breton and Halifax regions compared to one year ago.
Participation and employment rates rose in Cape Breton and Halifax, and declined in North Shore, Annapolis Valley and Southern Nova Scotia regions.
Regions (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with the first ten months of 2023, all regions except Southern Nova Scotia reported higher labour force and higher employment. Labour force gains outpaced employment growth for Halifax and Annapolis Valley regions, resulting in higher unemployment. North Shore reported slightly faster growth in employment than labour force (though to a much smaller degree than other regions). Cape Breton had the same gain in labour force and employment for the first ten months of 2024.
Provincial Comparisons (seasonally adjusted)
Canada's labour force rose 0.1% from September with seven provinces reporting growth in October 2024. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest growth while the largest decline was in Nova Scotia.
Compared with October 2023, the national labour force was up 2.3%. Prince Edward Island and Alberta reported the fastest increase while slowest growth was in British Columbia.
Canada's employment was up 0.1% from September to October. Five provinces reported higher employment in October, led by New Brunswick. Compared with October 2023, the national gain was 1.5% with the faster growth in New Brunswick and the slowest growth in Prince Edward Island.
The national unemployment rate was 6.5% in October 2024, up from 5.7% in October 2023. Quebec had the lowest unemployment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest unemployment rate in October 2024.
The national participation rate was 64.8% in October 2024. The highest participation rate was in Alberta while the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The national employment rate was 60.6% in October 2024. Alberta reported the highest employment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest.
Census Metropolitan Areas (October 2024, seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average)
The Halifax unemployment rate was 5.4% in the seasonally adjusted October 2024 three month moving average. Outside of Halifax the unemployment rate was 7.6%. 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 68.2% in the seasonally adjusted October 2024 three month moving average, while participation rates were 55.0% across the rest of the province.
Halifax reported an employment rate of 64.5% in the seasonally adjusted October 2024 three month moving average, while the employment rate was 50.8% 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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