Payroll employment in retail trade increased by 9,800 (+0.5%) in January, offsetting the declines observed in December (-6,000; -0.3%) and November (-3,800; -0.2%). On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was down 18,500 (-0.9%) in January 2025, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
The year-over-year payroll employment decline in the sector in January was led by sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers (-11,400; -5.4%), furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers (-5,900; -5.5%) and general merchandise retailers (-3,000; -1.1%), said the federal agency.
These losses were partially offset by gains in health and personal care retailers (+3,100; +1.4%), motor vehicle and parts dealers (+2,800; +1.3%) and clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (+2,300; +1.1%) in January, 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—rose by 26,800 (+0.1%) in January, following an increase of 66,400 (+0.4%) in December 2024. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 198,900 (+1.1%) in January 2025, explained StatsCan.
In January, monthly payroll employment increases were recorded in 6 out of 20 sectors, including educational services (+26,200; +1.8%), retail trade (+9,800; +0.5%) and health care and social assistance (+7,300; +0.3%). These gains were partially offset by declines in construction (-8,000; -0.7%), accommodation and food services (-3,400; -0.3%) and information and cultural industries (-2,700; -0.8%). There was little change in the remaining 11 sectors, according to the report.
Meanwhile, job vacancies were little changed in January. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 136,700 (-20.6%) in January.
“There were 526,200 job vacancies in January, little changed from December. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 136,700 (-20.6%) in January. Total labour demand—which corresponds to the sum of filled and unfilled positions—was little changed in January from both the previous month and the same month last year,” noted the report.
“The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 2.9% in January, down 0.1 percentage points from December (3.0%). The monthly decline followed four consecutive months of little change. Year over year, the job vacancy rate was down by 0.8 percentage points in January.
“There were 2.8 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in January, unchanged from December, but up from 1.9 in January 2024. The year-over-year increase in the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio in January 2025 reflects a decrease in vacancies (-135,200; -20.5%, excluding territories), and an increase in the number of unemployed persons (+250,500; +20.2%, according to the Labour Force Survey).”
In January, four sectors recorded a decline in job vacancies: transportation and warehousing (-5,800; -18.9%), finance and insurance (-5,100; -27.0%), educational services (-2,800; -14.8%) and utilities (-700; -33.3%). Job vacancies were little changed in the remaining 16 sectors.
“Year over year, vacancies declined in 15 out of 20 sectors in January. The largest declines were recorded in health care and social assistance (-35,000; -24.3%), retail trade (-16,800; -25.0%), and accommodation and food services (-13,000; -15.9%). Job vacancies were little changed in the remaining five sectors,” said the federal agency.
“In January, the number of job vacancies in accommodation and food services edged up (+4,600; +7.1%) to 69,000. Vacancies in the sector have trended upwards from a recent low in August 2024 (52,800). From August 2024 to January 2025, the job vacancy rate in the sector increased by 1.1 percentage points to 5.0%. This was the highest job vacancy rate across all sectors in January.”
On a year-over-year basis, the number of job vacancies in accommodation and food services was down by 13,000 (-15.9%) in January.
, furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers (-5,900; -5.5%) and general merchandise retailers (-3,000; -1.1%).){kind=link}