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October 11, 2024LABOUR MARKET TRENDS, SEPTEMBER 2024 September labour force survey results reflect the period from September 15 to 21, 2024.
Ages 15+ (September 2024 vs August 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employment rose by 3,000 (+0.6%) to 516,100 in September following growth of 5,000 (+1.0%) in the previous month.
The change in employment was attributable to an increase for full-time (+5,600) that more that offset a decline in part-time employment (-2,600). Note that changes in full-time and part-time employment can also reflect changing hours for the same job.
Nova Scotia’s labour force rose 1,200 (+0.2%) to 551,200 in September 2024.
With employment rising faster than labour force, Nova Scotia's unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 6.3% in September 2024.
Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate was unchanged at 61.5% and the employment rate was up 0.2 percentage points to 57.6% in September 2024.
Ages 15+ (September 2024 vs September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with September 2023, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 increased by 26,400 (+3.0%), while the labour force grew by 17,900 (+3.4%), and employment increased by 19,900 (+4.0%). The unemployment rate declined by 0.7 percentage points while the participation rate rose by 0.2 percentage points and the employment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points.
Ages 15+ (January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January-September 2023, Nova Scotia's population over the age of 15 increased by 26,700 (+3.1%), while the labour force grew by 20,200 (+3.8%), and employment increased by 18,300 (+3.7%). The unemployment rate was up 0.1 percentage point with the participation rate up 0.4 percentage points and the employment rate up 0.3 percentage points.
Note: Year-to-date estimates are calculated as averages of monthly data and rounded to the nearest tenth. Year-to-date changes in the table are also rounded to the nearest tenth.
Age Cohorts (September 2024 vs August 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Among youth (ages 15-24), employment declined by 1,200 (-1.7%) while the labour force declined by 2,800 (-3.5%). As labour force decline outpaced the employment decline, the youth unemployment rate declined 1.7 percentage points to 12.4% in September. The youth participation rate fell 2.6 percentage points to 62.5% while the youth employment rate was down 1.3 percentage points to 54.7%.
The population aged 25-54 makes up the largest part of the labour force. In the core age group, employment was up 2,600 (+0.8%) while the labour force rose 2,400 (+0.7%). With employment rising slightly faster than the labour force, the core aged unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 5.5% in September 2024. The core aged participation rate was up 0.3 percentage points to 88.2% and the core aged employment rate was up 0.4 percentage points to 83.4%.
Older workers (aged 55+) reported the labour force rose by 1,500 (+1.2%) while employment rose by 1,600 (+1.4%). With employment rising and labour force falling, the older worker unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 5.0%. The older worker participation rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 33.1% and the employment rate for older workers rose 0.4 percentage points to 31.5%.
Males and Females (Ages 15+, September 2024 vs August 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Monthly employment rose 2,100 (+0.8%) for males while the labour force rose 600 (+0.2%). As employment growth outpaced labour force growth, the male unemployment rate was fell 0.6 percentage points to 7.6% in September. The male participation rate was unchanged at 64.8% and the male employment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 59.9%.
Females reported an increase in employment of 900 (+0.4%) while the labour force rose by 700 (+0.3%). With employment rising slightly faster than labour force, the female unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage point to 5.1% in September. The female participation rate and employment rate were unchanged at 58.4% and 55.4%, respectively.
September's increase in employment was primarily due to rising employment for core-aged and older workers, as well as males, with smaller employment increases for females. Labour force growth was due to growth among core-aged and older workers. Females had slighty stronger labour force growth compared to males. All age cohorts saw declines in unemployment, with the greatest decline among youth. Males saw a larger decline in unemployment than females.
Age and sex cohorts (September 2024 vs September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with September 2023, employment growth was strongestamong core aged workers (whose population has also grown the most over this period). Older workers had the next strongest employment gains and a notable decline in unemployment. Male employment has increased more than for females when compared to September 2023, where females report more persons not in the labour force.
Age and sex cohorts (January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared with January-September 2023, labour force and employment growth was highest among core-aged workers (whose population is also growing more than others). Labour force growth outpaced employment growth for core-aged workers, and, to a lesser extent, youth workers. Older workers saw a larger increase in employment than labour force. Core-aged workers had a larger increase in unemployment compared to youth and older workers as labour force growth outpaced employment growth. Population, labour force, and employment have increased more for males than females compared to January-September 2023.
Class of Worker and Industry (September 2024 vs August 2024, seasonally adjusted)
The September 2024 employment change was due to an increase in public sector employment (+5,200, +3.8%) which offset declines in private sector (-1,500, -0.5%) and self-employed workers (-800, -1.6%).
Classified by industry, the largest employment gains from August to September were in education, construction, personal/repair services and manufacturing. The largest decline was in wholesale/retail, followed by forestry/fishing/mining and finance/insurance/real estate.
Class of Worker and Industry (September 2024 vs September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to September 2023, there were employment gains for public sector workers (+21,800 or +18.1%), and private sector workers (+6,000 or +1.9%), with a decline in self-employed (-7,900 or -13.6%).
Over the last 12 months, employment was up the most for health/social, accommodation/food services and public administration. The largest declines were in professional/technical services, business support (including call centres) and wholesale/retail.
Class of Worker and Industry (January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to January-September 2023, gains were strongest for public sector workers (+14,200 or +11.8%) followed by private sector workers (+10,300 or +3.2%). The number of self employed declined (-6,100 or -10.6%) in January-September 2024.
Gains in employment was strongest in education, public administration and accommodation/food services and the largest declines were in professional/technical services and agriculture for the first nine months of 2024.
Hours worked and employment (September 2024, unadjusted)
Compared to the provincial average, a larger share of workers in goods producting industries, as well as transportation/warehousing, worked more than 40 hours per week in September 2024.
Note that some data on those working few hours in business support (including call centres), utilities, forestry/fishing/mining and agriculture were suppressed.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, September 2024 vs September 2023)
Average weekly earnings increased by 6.2% from September 2023 to September 2024. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in business/support/call centres and professional/technical services. The largest declines in average weekly wages were in agriculture (where average weekly wages were unusually high from September to November 2023), followed by transportation/warehousing and information/culture/recreation.
The increase in Nova Scotia's all items consumer price index was 1.2% from August 2023 to August 2024.
Average weekly earnings across all employees were $1,152.32 in September 2024. The highest average weekly earnings (both full and part time employees) were reported in professional/technical services, forestry/fishing/mining, public administration, and utilities. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food services, agriculture, and wholesale/retail trade.
Average weekly earnings (unadjusted, both full time and part time, January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023)
Average weekly earnings increased 6.7% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. The fastest gains in average weekly earnings were in utilities, manufacturing, professional/technical services, and personal/repair services. Agriculture and forestry/fishing/mining registered the fastest declines in average weekly earnings in January-September 2024.
Average weekly earnings in the first nine months of 2024 were highest in utilities, professional/technical services, public administration and forestry/fishing/mining. The lowest average weekly earnings were in accommodation/food services, wholesale/retail trade, agriculture and business support services (including call centres) in January-September 2024.
Regions (September 2024 vs September 2023, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with September 2023, labour force and employment increases were concentrated in Halifax. Cape Breton reported slightly faster growth in employment than labour force, resulting in lower unemployment compared to one year ago. The North Shore saw a slightly faster increase in employment compared to labour force, with stronger growth in persons not in the labour force. Annapolis Valley reported growth in labour force and a smaller increase in employment, leading to increases in unemployment. Southern Nova Scotia reported declining employment and labour force, resulting in higher unemployment and persons not in the labour force.
Unemployment rates were up in Annapolis Valley and Southern Nova Scotia while they declined in Cape Breton, North Shore and Halifax regions compared to one year ago.
Participation rates rose in Cape Breton and Annapolis Valley, and declined in North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia regions. Participation rates were unchanged in Halifax.
Employment rates were up in Cape Breton and Halifax and declined in all other regions.
Regions (January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023, unadjusted 3 month moving average)
Compared with the first nine months of 2023, all regions except Southern Nova Scotia reported higher labour force and higher employment. Labour force gains outpaced employment growth for Cape Breton, Halifax and Annapolis Valley regions, resulting in higher unemployment. North Shore reported slightly faster growth in employment than labour force (though to a much smaller degree than other regions).
Provincial Comparisons (seasonally adjusted)
Canada's labour force rose 0.1% from August with five provinces reporting growth in September 2024. Saskatchewan reported the fastest growth while the largest decline was in New Brunswick.
Compared with September 2023, the national labour force was up 2.5%. Alberta and Nova Scotia reported the fastest increase while slowest growth was in British Columbia.
Canada's employment was up 0.2% from August to September. Seven provinces reported higher employment in September, led by Manitoba. Compared with September 2023, Nova Scotia's employment was up 4.0%, the fastest reported growth among provinces. The national gain was 1.5% with the slowest growth in Québec over this period.
The national unemployment rate was 6.5% in September 2024, up from 5.6% in September 2023. Quebec had the lowest unemployment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest unemployment rate in September 2024.
The national participation rate was 64.9% in September 2024. The highest participation rate was in Alberta while the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The national employment rate was 60.7% in September 2024. Saskatchewan reported the highest employment rate while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest.
Census Metropolitan Areas (September 2024, seasonally adjusted 3 month moving average)
The Halifax unemployment rate was 5.5% in the seasonally adjusted September 2024 three month moving average. Outside of Halifax the unemployment rate was 8.0%. 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 68.1% in the seasonally adjusted September 2024 three month moving average, while participation rates were 55.2% across the rest of the province.
Halifax reported an employment rate of 64.4% in the seasonally adjusted August 2024 three month moving average, while the employment rate was 50.7% 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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