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July 25, 2019JOB VACANCIES, APRIL 2019 In the 3 months ending in April 2019, there were an average of 7,700 job vacancies in Nova Scotia (unadjusted for seasonality). This is 2,400 more than reported in the same period of 2018.
Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate, the share of labour demand that is unfilled, rose to 2.0 per cent in the three months ending in April. This is 0.6 percentage points higher than observed for the same period in 2018. Job vacancy rates were lower in the early months of 2018, but rose through the second half of the year. Nova Scotia's April job vacancy rate reaches a new high in records dating back to 2011. The previous high was reported during the three month period ending in March. Nova Scotia's unemployment rate reached a seasonally adjusted low of 6.2 per cent in March 2019 (lowest since the start of the monthly labour force survey in 1976).
The national job vacancy rate was 2.2 per cent, about the same as it was at this time last year.
Across Canada, job vacancy rates are highest in British Columbia (2.8 per cent), followed by Ontario and Alberta. The lowest job vacancy rates were in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Saskatchewan. Compared with the same period last year, the job vacancy rate has increased in six provinces with the largest increases in Nova Scotia.
There were an average of 4.7 unemployed persons per job vacancy in Nova Scotia in the 3 months ending in April 2019, down from 7.8 in the three months leading up to April 2018. The ratio of unemployed persons per vacancy has fallen substantially over the last year, with the April result setting another new low since monthly job vacancy data started in 2011 (previous low was reported in March).
The national ratio of unemployed persons per job vacancy (3.5) was the same as in the February-April period of 2018.
Seven provinces reported fewer unemployed persons per job vacancy in April 2019 compared with the same period last year. The largest declines were in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.
British Columbia currently reports the tightest labour market conditions in Canada, with a job vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent and just 1.9 unemployed persons for each job vacancy. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the most labour market slack, with 13.2 unemployed persons for each job vacancy and a job vacancy rate of 1.3 per cent. Both Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported substantial tightening of labour markets over the last year.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0224-01 Job vacancies, labour demand and job vacancy rate, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality,
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