Canadian Payroll Employment and Job Vacancies Decline in October

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that payroll employment—the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—declined by 21,100 (0.1%) in October, following minimal changes in September and August. However, year-over-year, payroll employment increased by 125,800 (0.7%).

In October, job vacancies declined by 15,000 (2.8%) to 513,200, following little change in September and a decrease of 16,700 (3.1%) in August.

Monthly payroll employment declines were observed in 7 out of 20 sectors, with the largest decreases in manufacturing (down 0.4%, or 5,900), professional, scientific, and technical services (down 0.3%, or 3,700), and accommodation and food services (down 0.3%, or 3,500).

Those declines were partially offset by gains in retail trade (up 0.2%, or 4,200), construction (up 0.3%, or 3,400), public administration (up 0.3%, or 3,300), and health care and social assistance (up 0.1%, or 3,300).

The remaining nine sectors saw little change.