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February 10, 2023LABOUR MARKET TRENDS, JANUARY 2023 December labour force survey results reflect the period from January 15-21.
Ages 15+ (January 2023 vs December 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employment increased 9,400 (+1.9%) from December 2022, rising to 501,600 in January 2023. This was a significant employment gain.
The change in employment was attributable to both full-time employment (+4,500) and part-time employment (+4,800).
Nova Scotia’s labour force increased by 3,500 (+0.7%) to 528,100 in January 2023.
With labour force rising slower than employment, Nova Scotia's unemployment rate decreased from 6.2% in December 2022 to 5.0% in January 2023. This is the lowest unemployment rate in modern LFS data that starts in 1976.
Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate was up 0.3 percentage points to 62.0% in January 2023. The employment rate was up 1.0 percentage points at 58.9% in January 2023.
Ages 15+ (January 2023 vs January 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January of 2022, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 had increased by 21,700 (+2.6%) while the labour force grew by 16,500 (+3.2%) and employment increased by 24,800 (+5.2%). The unemployment rate decreased by 1.8 percentage points with the participation rate up by 0.4 percentage points and the employment rate up 1.5 percentage points.
Age Cohorts (January 2023 vs December 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Among youth (ages 15-24), employment decreased by 900 (-1.3%) while the labour force decreased by 900 (-1.2%). With similar changes in the labour force and employment, the youth unemployment rate was unchanged at 12.5% in January 2023. The decline in the youth labour force reduced the youth participation rate 1.0 percentage points to 67.8% and the youth employment rate decreased 1.0 percentage points to 59.3%.
The population aged 25-54 makes up the largest part of the labour force. In the core age group, employment was up by 7,700 (2.5%) and the labour force increased by 2,500 (+0.8%). Because employment increased more than the labour force grew, the core aged unemployment rate decreased 1.6 percentage points to 3.4% in January 2023. The core aged participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 88.2% while the core aged employment rate increased 1.9 percentage points to 85.2%.
Older workers (aged 55+) reported increases in both labour force (+1,800 or +1.5%) and employment (+2,500 or +2.1%). With labour force increasing slower than employment, the older worker unemployment rate decreased 0.7 percentage points to 4.7%. The older worker participation rate was up 0.5 percentage points to 33.9% and the employment rate for older workers was up 0.7 percentage points to at 32.3%.
Males and Females (Ages 15+, January 2023 vs December 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Monthly employment increased by 7,000 (+2.9%) for males while the labour force grew by 2,500 (+0.9%). With a larger increase in employment than the labour force, the male unemployment rate decreased 1.7 percentage points to 5.2% in January. The male participation rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 64.6% while the male employment rate was up 1.6 percentage points to 61.3%.
Females reported increases in both labour force (+900 or +0.3%) and employment (+2,400 or +1.0%). As the labour force growth was slower than the employment gains, the female unemployment rate decreased from 5.4% in December to 4.9% in January. Female participation rates were up 0.1 percentage points to 59.5% while female employment rates were up 0.5 percentage points to 56.7%.
Overall, last month's labour force growth was concentrated among core aged workers and men with smaller increases for aged 55 and over and women. Among all cohorts except youth, the increase in employment was larger than labour force growth.
Age and sex cohorts (January 2023 vs January 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January 2022, the latest month's labour force growth was concentrated among core aged workers (whose population is also growing faster than others). Youth reported a small gain in population and labour force with little change in employment. Older workers reported declining labour force, despite rising populations. Employment gains over the last year also concentrated among core aged workers with a small increase in older workers. Unemployment was down for all cohorts except youth. Females employment and labour force increases were larger than males over the past year.
Class of Worker and Industry (January 2023 vs December 2022, seasonally adjusted)
The January 2023 employment change reflected an increase in private sector workers (+6,800 or +2.2%), self-employed (+2,400 or +4.4%) and public sector workers (+200 or 0.2%).
Classified by industry, the employment change from December to January reflected notable increases in manufacturing, construction, and education. These gains were offset by small employment declines in forestry/fishing/mining, professional/technical services, and health care and social assistance.
Class of Worker and Industry (January 2023 vs January 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to January 2022, there were gains in employment for private sector workers (+24,200 or +8.1%), public sector workers (+4,100 or +3.5%) while self employment was down (-3,500 or -5.8%).
Over the last 12 months, employment by industry has risen most sharply for personal/repair, construction, information/culture/recreation, wholesale/retail, public administration, and professional/technical services. There were employment losses in manufacturing, transportation/warehousing, agriculture, utilities, and business support (including call centers).
Hours worked and employment (January 2023, unadjusted)
A larger share of workers in forestry/fishing/mining, transportation/warehousing, construction and manufacturing worked more than 40 hours per week in January 2023.
Note that some data on those working few hours in utilities and agriculture were suppressed.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, January 2023 vs January 2022)
Average weekly earnings increased by 5.5% from January 2022 to January 2023. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in agriculture, forestry/fishing/mining, business support/call centres, wholesale/retail, finance/insurance/real estate, and utilities. Average weekly wages were down in personal/repair services, information/culture/recreation, transportation/warehousing and construction.
The increase in Nova Scotia's all items consumer price index was 7.5% in 2022.
Average weekly earnings across all employees were $1,032.88 in January 2023. The highest average weekly earnings (both full and part time employees) were reported in utilities, forestry/fishing/mining, public administration, professional/technical services. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food services, wholesale/retail trade and information/culture/recreation.
Regions (January 2023 vs January 2022, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with January 2022, the labour force increase was concentrated in Halifax. North Shore labour force declined over the past year.
Unemployment rates declined in all regions from January 2022 to January 2023. Employment gains outpaced labour force increases in Halifax, the Annapolis Valley, Cape Breton and Southern Nova Scotia. Employment declined at a slightly slower rate than labour force for the North Shore region.
Participation rates were up in all regions except the North Shore. Employment rates were down in all regions except Halifax.
Provincial Comparisons (seasonally adjusted)
Canada's labour force grew by 0.7% from December to January. Nova Scotia's labour force grew by 0.7%. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest labour force gains over this period. There were increases in labour force for all provinces except New Brunswick and Manitoba.
Compared with January 2022, national labour force was up 2.2% (3.2% in Nova Scotia). There were gains in all provinces, led by New Brunswick, Quebec and Alberta. Prince Edward Island and Manitoba had the smallest increases.
Canada's employment increased by 150,000 (+0.8%) from December to January Nova Scotia reported the largest monthly increase among the 7 provinces with employment gains. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest employment decline in January.
Compared with January 2022, Nova Scotia's employment was up 5.2% in January 2023, outpacing all provinces and the national gain of 3.9%. The smallest increase was in Manitoba.
The national unemployment rate was 5.0% in January 2023, unchanged from December 2022 and down from 6.5% in January 2022. Quebec had the lowest unemployment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest unemployment rate.
The national participation rate was 65.7% in January 2023. The highest participation rates were in Alberta and Saskatchewan while the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The national employment rate was 62.5% in January 2023. Alberta reported the highest employment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest.
Census Metropolitan Areas (January 2023, seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average)
The Halifax unemployment rate was 4.5% in the seasonally adjusted January 2023 three month moving average. This was below the national average, with the rest of Nova Scotia above at 6.8%. 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 68.3% in the seasonally adjusted January 2023 three month moving average while participation rates were 55.9% across the rest of the province.
Halifax reported an employment rate of 65.2% in the seasonally adjusted January 2023 three month moving average while the employment rate was 52.0% 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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