(OTTAWA) Job vacancies hit just over one million in early April, up more than 40 per cent from the same time a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Friday, as the tight labor market is driving up wages and fueling inflation fears.
Posted yesterday at 11:10 a.m.
According to the federal agency, Canadian employers were actively seeking to fill 1,001,100 job vacancies, up 23,300 from March and 308,000 from April 2021.
The job vacancy rate, which measures the number of job vacancies as a proportion of all jobs, was 5.8% in April, down from 4.4% in the same month last year.
The change comes as employment figures rise across the country.
“As of April, for the first time, payroll employment in all provinces had returned to the level observed in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, or had exceeded this level,” Statistics Canada said in its report.
The Bank of Canada cited the high level of job vacancies, saying it demonstrated a clear need to rein in the economy as it tries to fight inflation.
“The labor market is one of the clearest signs in Canada right now that we’re in excess demand,” central bank senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers told a conference earlier this year. week.
“We have a million vacancies. If you talk to companies right now, they’ll tell you they’re really struggling to fill those positions. »
The tight labor market is also helping to push up wages, which can fuel inflation.
Data released by Statistics Canada on Friday showed average weekly earnings rose 4% in April from a year ago. Workers did not benefit as much, however, since inflation was 6.8% during the same period.
Some sectors, however, saw higher wage increases. Earnings in the retail trade sector increased by 11.7%, that of the professional, scientific and technical services sector increased by 9.7% and that of the manufacturing group increased by 8.2%. The arts, entertainment and recreation sector was the only sector to see wages decline, by 4.5%.
In a report on Friday, Bank of Montreal chief executive Douglas Porter said one of the reasons core inflation was rising was as cost pressures spread through a tense work.
He noted that Friday’s wage figures showed that on a fixed-weighted measure, annual wage growth was 6.2% in April, which was well above other wage indicators this year, and higher. about one percentage point from the previous peak seen in data for the last 30 years.
“After a long period of surprising calm for wages in Canada, the payroll survey has just taken a hit in inflation,” he wrote.
Vacancies hit a record high in several sectors, including construction, which saw vacancies hit 89,900 in April, up 12,000 from March and 27,200 from March. April 2021.
The number of job vacancies also reached a record high for the professional, scientific and technical services sectors; transport and storage; finance and insurance; arts, entertainment and recreation; and real estate services and rental and leasing services.
The health care and social assistance sector saw job vacancies drop to 125,200 in April from a high of 147,500 in March, but those unfilled positions still showed a 21-year increase. .3% compared to the previous year.