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 56,100 (-0.3%) in November, following three consecutive months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 142,900 (+0.8%) in November, reported Statistics Canada on Thursday.
The report said payroll employment in the retail trade continues to decline.
“The postal service industry group, which is part of the transportation and warehousing sector, recorded a decline of 38,200 (-48.7%) in November, associated with the strike action that began during the month. In accordance with the “payroll employment” concept of the survey, persons who are on strike for the entire survey reference week are excluded from the payroll employment count for the month. Excluding the decline in this industry group, the overall decrease in national payroll employment was 17,900 (-0.1%) in November,” said Statistics Canada.
“In addition to the decline in transportation and warehousing (-36,900; -4.3%), six other sectors recorded payroll employment decreases in November, including retail trade (-6,100; -0.3%), administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-3,300; -0.4%) and other services (except public administration) (-2,300; -0.4%). These declines were partially offset by gains in accommodation and food services (+5,000; +0.4%), health care and social assistance (+2,900; +0.1%) and management of companies and enterprises (+1,400; +1.2%). The remaining 10 sectors were little changed.”
Stats Can said job vacancies were little changed in November, at 518,200, following a decrease of 14,300 (-2.7%) in October and little change in September.
Job vacancies were little changed in November, at 518,200, following a decrease of 14,300 (-2.7%) in October and little change in September. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 153,600 (-22.9%) in November, according to Statistics Canada.
The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 2.9% in November, unchanged from the previous month and down by 0.9 percentage points from November 2023 (3.8%), it explained.
There were 2.9 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in November 2024, up from 2.8 in the previous month. This increase was driven by the increase in unemployment (+87,300; +6.1%), measured by the Labour Force Survey, as the number of vacancies was little changed in November. Year over year, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio rose from 1.9 to 2.9, said the report.
“In November 2024, a number of unions across Canada began strike action. This included multiple unions representing workers at the Vancouver and Montréal ports and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). While most labour disputes occurred during the first two weeks of November, CUPW, a union representing nearly 55,000 postal workers across Canada, began strike action on November 15,” said the report.
“Payroll employment in retail trade fell by 6,100 (-0.3%) in November, following little change in October and a decrease of 8,400 (-0.4%) in September. Payroll employment in this sector has generally trended down since January 2024, with a net loss of 30,600 (-1.5%) over the period,” explained Statistics Canada.
“In November, the monthly decline in the sector was led by clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (-2,200; -1.1%) and general merchandise retailers (-1,500; -0.6%). These two subsectors accounted for 23.3% of overall payroll employment in the retail trade sector in November.”
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