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October 07, 2022LABOUR MARKET TRENDS, SEPTEMBER 2022 Labour force survey results reflect the period from September 11-17.
Ages 15+ (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employment increased 4,300 (+0.9%) from August 2022, rising to 480,200 in September 2022.
The change in employment was attributable to a large increase in part-time employment (+7,500) offset by a smaller decline in full-time employment (-3,200), reversing direction of changes from last month. These changes include variations in hours within the same job.
Nova Scotia’s labour force decreased by 2,900 (-0.6%) to 512,000 in September 2022.
With rising employment and falling labour force, Nova Scotia's unemployment rate decreased from 7.6% in August 2022 to 6.2% in September 2022.
Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate was down 0.5 percentage points to 60.5% in September 2022. The employment rate was up 0.3 percentage points to 56.7% in September 2022.
Ages 15+ (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with September of 2021, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 had increased by 22,200 (+2.7%) while the labour force grew by 3,100 (+0.6%) and employment increased by 12,500 (+2.7%). The unemployment rate decreased by 1.9 percentage points while the participation rate fell by 1.3 percentage points. The employment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points.
Ages 15+ (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with the first nine months of 2021, Nova Scotia's population has averaged 17,800 (+2.2%) higher for January to September of 2022. The labour force was up by 7,400 (+1.5%)and employment increased by 19,500 (+5.2%). The unemployment rate decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 6.6% on average in the first nine months of 2022. The year-to-date average participation rate declined by 0.4 percentage points to 61.1%. The employment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 57.1% year-to-date.
Age Cohorts (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Among youth (ages 15-24), employment fell by 1,500 (-2.3%) while the labour force decreased by 2,600 (-3.4%). Because employment decreased less than labour force grew, the youth unemployment rate decreased from 13.4% in August to 12.3% in September. The decrease in the youth labour force caused the youth participation rate to decline by 2.5 percentage points to 66.0% while the fall in employment reduced youth employment rates 1.5 percentage points to 57.9%.
The population aged 25-54 makes up the largest part of the labour force. In the core age group, employment increased by 7,600 (+2.6%) and the labour force increased by 3,500 (+1.1%). Because employment increased faster than the labour force, the core aged unemployment rate decreased 1.4 percentage points to 5.0% in September. The core aged participation rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 85.6% while the core aged employment rate increased 1.9 percentage points to 81.4%.
Older workers (aged 55+) reported a decrease in labour force (-3,700 or -2.9%) while employment was down (-1,900 or -1.6%). With labour force declining less than employment, the older worker unemployment rate decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 5.7%. The older worker participation rate was down 1.1 percentage points to 33.7% and the employment rate for older workers decreased 0.5 percentage points to 31.8%.
Males and Females (Ages 15+, September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Monthly employment was up for both females (+2,900 or 1.2%) and for males (+1,400 or 0.6%). However, there was a notable decline in male labour force (-3,600 or -1.4%). Female labour force grew by 800 (+0.3%) from August to September 2022.
With a increase in employment and a sharp decrease in labour force the male unemployment rate decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 7.2% in September. The female unemployment rate was down 0.8 percentage points to 5.2% because the increase in employment was faster than the increase in the labour force.
Male participation rates declined by 1.0 percentage points to 63.4% while female participation rates were unchanged at 57.8%. Male employment rates were up 0.2 percentage points to 58.8% while female employment rates increased 0.6 percentage points to 54.9%.
Overall, last month's employment increase was among core-aged workers with larger increase among females. The rise in labour force was among core-aged persons.
Age and sex cohorts (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with September 2021, the latest month's labour force growth was concentrated among core aged and male workers. Both youth and older workers reported small declines in labour force. Employment gains over the last year also concentrated among core aged workers with a small increase in older workers and a decline in youth employment. Unemployment was down for all cohorts except youth. With population growing faster than labour force, the numbers not in the labour force increased for all cohorts, large increase among older workers and females.
Age and sex cohorts (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
On average over the first nine months of 2022, employment and labour force gains were reported in each age cohort, though growth among youth was more modest while employment growth for males outpaced female employment gains.
Class of Worker (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
The September 2022 employment change reflected an increase in self-employed (+7,200 or +14.3%) while private sector employees (-400 or -0.1%) and public sector employment decreased (-2,600 or -2.0%).
Class of Worker (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to September 2021, there were gains in employment for private sector workers (+7,000 or +2.4%), public sector workers (+6,600 or +5.5%) while self employment was down (-1,100 or -1.9%).
Class of Worker (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with the first nine months of 2021, there were gains in employment for all classes of workers during January to September of 2022: private sector workers (+10,600 or +3.7%), public sector workers (+4,900 or +4.1%) and self employment (+700 or +1.3%).
Industry of Employment (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
The employment change from August to September reflected notable employment increases in education, health/social assistance, and wholesale/retail. There were notable offsetting decline in employment for professional/technical services and transportation.
Industry of Employment (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Over the last 12 months, employment has risen across almost all industries with the exceptions of agriculture, utilities, wholesale/retail, transportation, business support (including call centres), and public administration. The largest employment gains were in construction, information/culture/recreation, and health/social assistance.
Industry of Employment (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
On average over the first nine months of 2022 (compared with the same period last year), most industries reported employment gains. The increase in year-to-date average employment was fastest for professional/technical services, health/social (including daycare) and construction. Only agriculture, forestry/fishing/mining and transportation reported declining employment on average in 2022.
Hours worked and employment (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, unadjusted)
Changes in unadjusted hours worked show different variations than changes in seasonally adjusted employment (comparing the average over the first nine months of 2022 with the same period in 2021). Overall employment was up by 3.5% while hours were up by 3.7%.
There were year-to-date contractions in employment for agriculture, forestry/fishing/mining, utilities, and transportation. However, in agriculture and forestry/fishing/mining the impact on hours was notably milder than the contraction in employment. The year-to-date increases in employment were strongest in professional and technical services, information/culture/recreation, and construction. In professional and technical services hours worked grew faster than employment while construction and information/culture/recreation hours are growing slower than employment.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021)
Average weekly earnings increased by 4.5% from January-September 2021 to January-September 2022. Earnings were up by across most industries, with the exceptions of information/culture/recreation. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in forestry/fishing/mining, professional and technical services and business support (which includes call centres).
Average weekly earnings across all employees were $1,007.98 in September 2022. The highest average weekly earnings (both full and part time employees) were reported in forestry/fishing/mining, utilities, professional/technical services and public administration. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food, wholesale/retail and agriculture.
Regions (September 2022 vs September 2021, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with September 2021, employment and labour force each increased in Halifax and Annapolis Valley while each decreased in the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia regions. Cape Breton employment was up while labour force decreased. The unemployment rate declined in Cape Breton, Halifax, and the Annapolis Valley where employment gains all outpaced the labour force change. Unemployment rates went up in the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia economic regions where the decline in employment was larger than the decline in labour force.
Participation rates were up only in the Annapolis Valley economic region. Employment rates were up for Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax and down for the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia.
Regions (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Comparing the average over the first nine months of 2022 with the same months of 2021, labour force was down for the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia economic regions. Labour force grew in Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax. Employment was up for Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax while there were declines in the North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia regions.
Provincial Comparisons (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Canada's employment increased by 21,100 (+0.1%) from August to September, the first increase in past four months. British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia reported the largest employment increases after having the largest declines last month. Employment was down in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
The labour force decreased slightly for Canada (-0.1%) with declines in most provinces. The largest decline in Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. The largest increases in labour force were reported in British Columbia and Alberta.
Provincial Comparisons (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with September 2021, Nova Scotia's employment was up 2.7% while labour force expanded by 0.6%. National employment was up 2.2% while labour force increased by 0.3%. All provinces reported employment gains over this period with the fastest growth in Alberta. Alberta reported largest labour force increase while Saskatchewan reported largest decline.
The national unemployment rate was 5.2% in September 2022, down 0.2 percentage points from August 2022 and down from 7.0% in September 2021. Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Quebec had the lowest unemployment rates while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest unemployment rate.
The national participation rate was 64.7% in September 2022. The highest participation rates were in Alberta and Saskatchewan while the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The national employment rate was 61.3% in September 2022. Alberta reported the highest employment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest.
Census Metropolitan Areas (September 2022, seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average)
The Halifax unemployment rate was 5.0% in the seasonally adjusted September 2022 three month moving average. This was just above the average for other Census Metropolitan Areas, but lower than in the rest of Nova Scotia (8.2%). In central and western provinces, unemployment rates in Census Metropolitan Areas are similar to or higher than unemployment rates outside CMAs. In the Atlantic Provinces unemployment rates are typically higher outside CMAs.
Halifax's participation rate was 66.7% in the seasonally adjusted September 2022 three month moving average while participation rates were 55.5% across the rest of the province.
Halifax reported an employment rate of 63.4% in the seasonally adjusted September 2022 three month moving average while the employment rate was 51.0% outside the city.
Sources: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0036-01 Actual hours worked by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0063-01 Employee wages by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months; Table 14-10-0380-01 Labour force characteristics, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted; Table 14-10-0387-01 Labour force characteristics, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, last 5 months; Table 14-10-0355-01 Employment by industry, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, and trend-cycle, last 5 months (x 1,000); Table 14-10-0288-01 Employment by class of worker, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, last 5 months (x 1,000); Table: 14-10-0380-02 Labour force characteristics, three month moving average, seasonally adjusted (x 1,000)
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