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September 26, 2024JOB VACANCIES, JULY 2024 Monthly (July 2024 vs June 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 13,175 job vacancies in July 2024 with a vacancy rate of 2.8%. Canadian employers were actively recruiting for 526,925 positions in July with a vacancy rate of 3.0%. The national job vacancy rate declined 0.1 percentage points in July 2024 to 3.0% with seven provinces reporting lower vacancy rates. The highest vacancy rate was reported in British Columbia and the lowest vacancy rate was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
When compared to July 2024, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined 11.7% (-1,740 jobs). National job vacancies declined 4.1% (-22,355 jobs). Job vacancies declined in seven provinces with the fastest drop in Newfoundland and Labrador. Three provinces reported higher vacancies compared to the previous month, with the strongest growth in New Brunswick.
Year-over-year (July 2024 vs July 2023)
When compared to July 2023, the job vacancy rate in Nova Scotia declined 1.1 percentage points. Nationally, the job vacancy rate declined from 4.0% to 3.0%. Compared to one year earlier, the job vacancy rate declined in all provinces.
When compared to July 2023, the number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined 25.2% or 4,450 vacancies. National job vacancies declined 26.6% or 190,935 vacant jobs. All provinces saw declines in the number of vacancies over the twelve month period ending in July. In percentage terms, Newfoundland and Labrador declined the most and Prince Edward Island declined the least compared to July 2023.
Trend
Nationally, job vacancy rates trended downward after peaking in March-May 2022. In July 2024, the job vacancy rate was at its lowest level since January 2018.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate peaked in the spring of 2022 and has also been on a downward trend. The Nova Scotia job vacancy rate has been below the national rate for most of this period.
Nova Scotia's job vacancies peaked at 22,715 in June 2022 and have fallen to 13,175 as of July 2024.
Canada job vacancy rate and job vacancies by industry, July 2024
Nationally, health care/social assistance, accommodation/food services, and construction industries had the highest job vacancy rates. The lowest vacancy rates were in education and utilities.
Health care and social assistance had the highest number of vacancies at 128,530 in July. Compared to July 2023, the number of vacancies declined in every industry.
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.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection was suspended from April to September 2020. There remains a break in this data series.
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