September 17, 2024JOB VACANCIES AND WAGES, Q2 2024 Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate (seasonally adjusted) was 3.6% in Q2 2024, representing 15,795 job vacancies. Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate was unchanged the previous two quarters.
Nationally, the job vacancy rate was 3.3%, down 0.3 percentage points from Q1 2024. The highest job vacancy rate was reported in British Columbia while the lowest job vacancy rate was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and North Shore regions reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q2 2024. Halifax reported the lowest job vacancy rate at 3.3%.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined by 0.4% from Q1 to Q2 2024. Nationally, job vacancies were down 9.2% with declines in all provinces except Manitoba. The steepest decline was in Quebec.
In Nova Scotia, job vacancies were up in Cape Breton and Halifax with declines in North Shore, Annapolis Valley and Southern Nova Scotia. North Shore region reported the largest decline in job vacancies in the second quarter of 2024.
Compared with Q2 2023, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate was down by 1.2 percentage points. All provinces reported declining job vacancy rates from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.
Within Nova Scotia, all regions reported lower job vacancy rates from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.
The number of job vacancies declined by 17.6% in Nova Scotia from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024. Nationally, the number of job vacancies fell by 24.9% with declines in all provinces. Quebec reported the largest percentage reduction in job vacancies while Manitoba reported the least decline.
Among Nova Scotia's economic regions, North Shore reported the largest year-over-year decline in job vacancies from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024. Cape Breton reported the only increase in job vacancies over the last year.
The average hourly wage offered on vacant positions (unadjusted for seasonality) was $24.05 in Nova Scotia during Q2 2024, this was up from $22.30 a year earlier. All provinces reported higher average hourly wages on vacant positions compared with Q2 2023.
Average hourly wages on vacant positions were $26.80 nationally, with the highest values in British Columbia and Ontario. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest average wages on vacant positions in Q2 2024.
Across Nova Scotia, average hourly wages on vacant positions were up for all economic regions. Q2 2024 wages were highest in Halifax and lowest in the Annapolis Valley economic region.
Average wages on vacant positions grew by 7.8% in Nova Scotia from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024. Nationally, average wages on vacant positions were up 6.8% over this period with gains in all provinces. New Brunswick reported the largest increase in average wages on vacant positions while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest increase.
North Shore reported the fastest year-over-year growth in average wages for vacant positions while Annapolis Valley reported the slowest growth.
In unadjusted job vacancy rates by industry in Nova Scotia, accommodation/food services, personal/repair services and arts/entertainment/recreation reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q2 2024. Education, information/culture and mining/oil/gas reported the lowest job vacancy rates. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining in Q2 2023).
Compared with Q2 2023, there were notable declines in job vacancy rates for Nova Scotia's construction, personal/repair services, and agriculture/forestry/fishing industries. Arts/entertainment/recreation and public administration were the only industries in Nova Scotia to report rising job vacancy rates over the last year while health/social/daycare and company management job vacancy rates were unchanged.
The number of job vacancies remained highest in health/social/daycare in Nova Scotia in Q2 2024.
Most industries in Nova Scotia reported a lower number of job vacancies, comparing Q2 2024 against Q2 2023. Across all industries, job vacancies were down 17.6% in unadjusted results. The steepest percentage declines were observed in mining as well as agriculture/forestry/fishing. Only public administration, arts/entertainment/recreation, health/social/daycare and company management reported increases in job vacancies over this period.
Compared with national averages by industry, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rates were higher for all reporting industries except agriculture/forestry/fishing, mining/oil/gas, retail trade, information/culture, education and public administration. Transportation and warehousing job vacancy rates were the same as the national average.
In Q2 2024, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were highest for professional/technical services, mining, real estate/rental/leasing and public administration. Hourly wages for vacant positions in Nova Scotia were lowest for accommodation/food services.
From Q2 2023 to Q2 2024, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were up for most industries (exceptions: administrative/support/call centres, company management, finance/insurance, information/culture). Note that some quarterly data are unavailable for utilities and mining/oil/gas.
Growth in average hourly wages for vacant positions was strongest for real estate/rental/leasing, comparing Q2 2024 against Q2 2023. Company management reported the steepest percentage decline in hourly wages offered on vacant positions over this period.
Compared with national averages, average hourly wages on vacant Nova Scotia positions were lower for all industries. The gaps were largest in company management and information/culture.
The majority of job vacancies in Q2 2024 required no more than a high school education and less then a year of experience.
Comparing Q2 2024 against Q2 2023, job vacancies were down for all categories of educational requirements except university bachelor degree and above. Among experience requirements, vacancies were up for experience of one to three years and more than eight years. The largest percentage declines were for positions requiring less then a year of experience as well as for those with trades or apprenticeship educational requirement.
Average hourly earnings for vacant positions were on average higher on increased experience and educational requirements.
Over the last year (comparing Q2 2024 against Q2 2023), average hourly wages were up most for positions requiring less then a year of experience as well as for those requiring university education below bachelor. Wages were down for vacant positions requiring a university degree above bachelor level as well as for positions requiring three to five years of experience. Average wages offered for vacancies requiring college or non-university education were unchanged year-over-year.
Trends
Following the pandemic (when job vacancy data were not collected), there was a substantial rise in Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate. The national job vacancy rate also increased over this time. After peaking in early 2022, vacancy rates in both Nova Scotia and across Canada have declined steadily. Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate has remained at 3.6% for three quarters while the national rate has continued to decline.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia peaked at 22,190 (seasonally adjusted) in Q2 2022. Since then, the number of vacancies has fallen by almost 6,400 with notable declines in the North Shore, Annapolis Valley and Halifax economic regions. Vacancies have been more stable in Southern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.
Growth in average hourly earnings for vacant positions across Nova Scotia has accelerated in the last two years.
Notes: Data collection activities were suspended from the start of the pandemic in March to September 2020. There remains a gap in the dataset for this survey.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0398-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, and job vacancy rate, by economic regions, quarterly, adjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0441-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, job vacancy rate, and average offered hourly wage by economic regions, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0442-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, job vacancy rate, and average offered hourly wage by industry sub-sector, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0443-01 Job vacancies, proportion of job vacancies and average offered hourly wage by occupation and selected characteristics, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0444-01 Job vacancies and average offered hourly wage by occupation (unit group), quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality