Record-breaking job vacancies were accompanied by the growth in employment overall and declining unemployment.
According to a recent Statistics Canada report, Canada has a record-breaking record of 912,600 job openings during the 3rd quarter of 2021.
The economy of Canada has continued to grow despite the relaxation of health restrictions for public employees. The record-significant degree of occupation opportunities was because of development in general work and falling joblessness. Insights Canada takes note of the 912,600 work opportunities in Q3 2021 were 62.1 percent higher (349,700 additional positions) than in Q3 2019. The largest number of job vacancies rise was seen in Saskatchewan, followed by Quebec and Ontario.
Employment vacancies increased in 18 of the 20 major industries between Q3 2019 between Q3 2019 and Q3 2021. Five industries contributed nearly 68 % of the rise including food and accommodation services and social and health services construction, retail trade manufacturing, and retail trade.
Social and health services are under significant labour pressure. There were 118,200 positions accessible in the second from last quarter of 2021, and finance business came to pre-COVID levels in December 2020. This indicates that the sector faces challenges due to the lack of labour demand. Before the pandemic, there was a rising demand for people in this field because of Canada’s ageing population. Orderlies, nurse aides, patient care employees (24,100), and registered nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses (22,800) were among the professions with the most jobs in Q3 2021.
In the last two years, food and lodging services comprised nearly 25 percent of the rise in total jobs vacancies. Statistics Canada explains the higher number of job openings was likely due to challenges with staffing due to the reopening of businesses in the industry during the summer. The industry is typically seeing a greater demand for workers during the summer.
Employers can take one method to address vacant positions by offering more pay. Statistics Canada explains that the record-breaking number of jobs available has brought interest in the extent to which labour shortages could cause an increase in wages. Between Q3 2019 and Q3 2021, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to gauge inflation in Canada and elsewhere increased by 4.3 percent. The wage growth was higher than the CPI increase in 155 of 373 professions where wage data were available during the comparison period. The biggest increase in job openings included labourers and helpers in the construction trades, cooks, retail salespersons, nurse aides, patient service assistants, and orderlies. The average wage offered to these jobs increased by 9.7 percent, and the average hourly wage for all workers rose by 8.4 percent.
Statistics Canada concluded the report with a statement that Canada’s labour market conditions are improving until the close of Q3 2021. For instance, the unemployment rate stood at 6.0 percent, which lies less than 0.3 percent of the pre-COVID February 2020 rate of 5.7 percent.
However, it is vital to be aware that Canada has seen a significant increase in COVID cases, with the Omicron variant becoming more frequent. This has led to increased security measures for public safety, which could impact the employment outlook of Canada as a result of subsequent Statistics Canada research.
