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October 27, 2016JOB VACANCIES, JULY 2016 In the 3 months ending in July 2016, there were an average of 5,500 job vacancies in Nova Scotia (unadjusted for seasonality). The number of job vacancies has risen through 2016 from a recent low of 4,100 for the 3 months ending in January 2016.
The job vacancy rate, the share of labour demand that is unfilled, was 1.4 per cent in July 2016 in Nova Scotia. After rising through 2014 and the first half of 2015, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rates trended down through the second half of 2015 signaling more slack in the labour market. However, the job vacancy rate has picked up in the last five months in Nova Scotia, and is now similar to the national rate. The job vacancy rate rose form the recent low of 1.1 per cent in January 2016 to 1.4 per cent in both June and July.
The number of unemployed persons per job vacancy also signals slack or tightness in the labour market. Nova Scotia's unemployment-to-vacancy ratio rose through the second half of 2015, similar to the trend in the national rate indicating slack in the labour market. The ratio of unemployment to job vacancies declined in Nova Scotia for the past four months and declined in Canada over the last five reflecting labour market tightening. There are currently an average of 6.9 unemployed persons per job vacancy - down from 7.5 in June and down slightly from 7.0 in July 2015.
British Columbia currently reports the tightest labour market conditions in Canada, with a job vacancy rate of 1.9 per cent and just 3.8 unemployed persons for each job vacancy. There have been notable increases in labour market slack in Saskatchewan and Alberta, which had previously reported the tightest labour markets in the country. Compared to July 2015, labour markets also appear more slack for Canada as well as provincially in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec. Ontario and Nova Scotia have seen an unchanged job vacancy rate and a small decline in the unemployed to job vacancies ratio compared to the July 2015 data.
Source: Statistics Canada's Job Vacancies. CANSIM 284-0001 and 284-0003