Payroll employment in retail trade decreased by 15,100 (-0.8 per cent) in June, contributing to an overall downward trend since February 2023, reported Statistics Canada on Thursday.
“From February 2023 to June 2024, the net payroll employment loss in retail trade was 39,300 (-1.9 per cent),” it said.
“In June, seven of the nine subsectors in retail trade recorded decreases in payroll employment. The declines were led by sporting goods, hobby, musical instruments, book, and miscellaneous retailers (-3,500; -1.7 per cent), clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (-3,400; -1.6 per cent) and general merchandise retailers (-2,200; -0.8 per cent). The remaining two subsectors were essentially unchanged.”
The federal agency reported that the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as “payroll employment” in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—decreased by 47,300 overall (-0.3 per cent) in June.
The decline in June followed five consecutive monthly increases from January to May, with a cumulative gain of 147,600 (+0.8 per cent) over this period. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 110,400 (+0.6 per cent) in June, added StatsCan.
“Meanwhile, job vacancies in June were little changed at 554,000. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 190,500 (-25.6 per cent) in June.
“In June, monthly payroll employment decreases were recorded in 11 out of 20 sectors, led by retail trade (-15,100; -0.8 per cent), manufacturing (-10,600; -0.7 per cent), construction (-7,700; -0.7 per cent) and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-6,600; -0.8 per cent). Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction (+2,500; +1.2 per cent) was the lone sector to record a monthly increase in June. The remaining eight sectors were little changed.”
