Payroll employment in retail trade decreased by 6,600 (-0.3%) in January, partially offsetting the gain in December (+4,700; +0.2%). On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in the sector was down by 29,900 (-1.5%) in January, reported Statistics Canada on Thursday.
The year-over-year payroll employment decline in retail trade in January was led by clothing and clothing accessories retailers (-8,400; -5.0%), grocery and convenience retailers (-7,700; -1.8%) and department stores (-7,100; -7.2%). These losses were partially offset by gains warehouse clubs, supercentres, and other general merchandise retailers (+3,200; +1.9%) and health and personal care retailers (+1,600; +0.7%), said the federal agency.
“In January, job vacancies were little changed across all sectors except for retail trade (+4,900; +10.5%). The monthly increase in job vacancies in retail trade was the first since July 2025. Despite the increase in the month, the number of vacancies in the sector in January 2026 was little changed compared with a year earlier,” said Statistics Canada.
The job vacancy rate corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand.
On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies in January were down in five sectors and up in one. The largest year-over-year decreases were reported for health care and social assistance (-16,900; -15.4%), accommodation and food services (-8,300; -12.3%) and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-4,100; -14.5%). The only sector to report a year-over-year increase in job vacancies was finance and insurance (+2,100; +14.3%), it said.
Overall, the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as “payroll employment” in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 45,600 (+0.2%) in January following a decrease of 10,600 (-0.1%) in December. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 33,500 (+0.2%) in January 2026, according to the report.
In January, monthly payroll employment increases were recorded in 9 out of 20 sectors, led by educational services (+20,000; +1.4%), followed by construction (+8,100; +0.7%), finance and insurance (+6,600; +0.8%) and health care and social assistance (+3,700; +0.1%). Monthly declines in January were concentrated in retail trade (-6,600; -0.3%), it said.
Meanwhile, in January, there were 492,400 vacant positions in Canada, little changed from December, when an increase of 23,700 (+4.9%) was recorded. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 35,100 (-6.7%) in January 2026, added Statistics Canada.
More from Retail Insider:
