Canadian Employment Increases in December

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) released the results of its Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours for December.

The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as “payroll employment”—rose 0.1% (25,300) after declining 0.1% (14,400) in November. From August to October, payroll employment saw little change. Year-over-year, employment was up 0.9% (158,000) in December.

Employment gains were reported in the following sectors:

• Transportation and warehousing saw an increase of 3.7% with 30,500 additional jobs.
• Health care and social assistance grew 0.3%, adding 7,800 positions.
• Administrative and support, waste management, and remediation services collectively rose 0.8%, with 6,700 new jobs.
• Public administration increased 0.4%, adding 5,200 positions.
• Accommodation and food services saw a modest rise of 0.1%, with 1,200 additional jobs.

Those gains were offset by decreases in the following sectors:

• Retail trade decreased 0.5%, resulting in a loss of 9,000 jobs.
• Information and cultural industries fell 1.6%, losing 5,700 positions.
• Educational services decreased 0.3%, with 4,100 jobs lost.

The remaining eight sectors saw little change.

Job vacancies rose by 3.0% (15,500) to 536,100 in December, following three months of stability.