Payroll employment in the retail and hospitality sectors continues to decline, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada which was released on Thursday.
Payroll employment in retail trade decreased by 8,400 (-0.4%) in March, continuing an overall downward trend that began in February 2023. From February 2023 to March 2025, payroll employment in retail trade has fallen by 53,400 (-2.6%), said the federal agency.
The largest contributors to the net decline since February 2023 were sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers (-14,600; -6.7%), furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers (-13,800; -12.0%), clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (-8,700; -4.1%), general merchandise retailers (-8,500; -3.2%) and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-7,100; -4.7%), it explained.
Statistics Canada said payroll employment in accommodation and food services (-8,400; -0.7%) decreased for the third consecutive month in March, bringing the cumulative decline to 22,100 (-1.7%) since January 2025. This decline was driven by full-service restaurants and limited service eating places (-18,300; -1.8%).
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in accommodation and food services was down by 20,800 (-1.6%) in March 2025, it added.
The federal agency said payroll employment in wholesale trade (-4,200; -0.5%) fell for the fourth consecutive month in March 2025, bringing the cumulative loss to 7,300 (-0.9%) since December 2024. Machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers (-4,200; -1.7%) recorded the largest decline over this period.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in wholesale trade was down by 6,000 (-0.7%) in March 2025, 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—decreased by 54,100 (-0.3%) in March, following a decline of 40,200 (-0.2%) in February. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 32,800 (+0.2%) in March, said the report.
Year over year, average weekly earnings were up 4.3% to $1,291 in March, following an increase of 5.1% in February. In general, growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects. Month over month, average weekly earnings were little changed in March. Average weekly hours (33.5 hours) were little changed on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis in March, it said.
In March, there were 529,700 job vacancies in Canada, the seventh consecutive month of little change. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 72,800 (-12.1%), according to the report.
“The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 3.0% in March, up 0.1 percentage points from February (2.9%), but down 0.4 percentage points from March 2024,” explained Statistics Canada.
“There were 2.9 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in March, up by 0.1 since February. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was up by 0.7. This increase was the result of a decrease in job vacancies (-72,100; -12.0%, excluding territories), coupled with an increase in the number of unemployed persons (+166,500; +12.4%). Over the same year-over-year period, the unemployment rate rose from 6.1% to 6.7% (according to the Labour Force Survey).”
“Total labour demand—which corresponds to the sum of filled and unfilled positions—fell by 64,400 (-0.4%) in March. On a year-over-year basis, it was up by 48,500 (+0.3%).
“In March, job vacancies were up in three sectors: transportation and warehousing (+3,300; +13.8%), utilities (+800; +51.8%), and management of companies and enterprises (+300; +19.6%). The increase in transportation and warehousing partially offset the decrease that took place in January ( -5,600; -18.4%). Retail trade was the only sector that recorded a decrease in job vacancies (-4,400; -8.4% to 48,200) in March. The number of job vacancies in retail trade was at its lowest since November 2024 (45,700).”
Year over year, vacancies were down in 11 of the 20 sectors in March 2025. The largest declines were recorded in health care and social assistance (-17,600; -14.4%), retail trade (-11,500; -19.3%), and transportation and warehousing (-8,200; -23.0%). Despite the year-over-year decline, job vacancies in health care and social assistance remained elevated in March (105,000) compared with pre-pandemic levels (73,200 in March 2020), noted Statistics Canada.
Finance and insurance (+2,700; +13.7%) and public administration (+1,500; +11.9%) were the only sectors to record year-over-year increases in March.
In March, monthly payroll employment declines were recorded in 10 of the 20 sectors, including educational services (-10,400; -0.7%), health care and social assistance (-9,500; -0.4%), accommodation and food services (-8,400; -0.7%), retail trade (-8,400; -0.4%), wholesale trade (-4,200; -0.5%), and construction (-4,000; -0.3%). These declines were partially offset by gains in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas (+2,500; +1.1%), arts, entertainment and recreation (+1,800; +0.5%), and management of companies and enterprises (+900; +0.7%). The remaining seven sectors were little changed.
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