In May, payroll employment in retail trade (+5,600; +0.3%) increased for the third consecutive month, bringing the cumulative gain since March to 20,500 (+1.0%), reports Statistics Canada.
“The monthly increase in May was concentrated in food and beverage retailers (+5,100; +1.0%), motor vehicle and parts dealers (+1,100; +0.5%) and general merchandise retailers (+1,000; +0.4%). The monthly gains were slightly offset by a decline in furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers (-1,100; -1.1%). On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in retail trade was up by 4,800 (+0.2%) in May,” said the federal agency.
Overall, Stats Can said 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 24,100 (+0.1%) in May, following an increase of 59,000 (+0.3%) in April and little change in March. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 112,500 (+0.6%) in May.
Meanwhile, job vacancies were little changed at 495,700 job vacancies in May, marking the fifth consecutive month of little variation in Canada. Year-over-year job vacancies were little changed, it added.
The monthly payroll employment gain in May was driven by public administration (+11,700; +0.9%), health care and social assistance (+6,800; +0.3%), retail trade (+5,600; +0.3%) and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (+3,100; +0.4%). These gains were partially offset by decreases in finance and insurance (-5,700; -0.7%) and professional, scientific and technical services (-3,400; -0.3%), said Statistics Canada.
In May, the number of job vacancies (495,700) was little changed from April, marking the fifth consecutive month of little variation. Year over year, job vacancies were also little changed, it noted.
“The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 2.8% in May, up 0.1% from the previous month and unchanged on a year-over-year basis. Since April 2025, the job vacancy rate has shown little variation, remaining within a narrow range of 2.7% to 2.8%,” explained Statistics Canada.
“Total labour demand—which corresponds to the sum of filled and unfilled positions—was up 0.3% in May 2026 from the previous month and up 0.8% year over year. Both increases were largely due to increases in payroll employment as job vacancies were little changed.”
There were 3.0 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in May 2026, down 0.2 from the previous month and from May 2025. These decreases were the result of declines in the number of unemployed persons (according to the Labour Force Survey) coupled with little variation in the number of job vacancies, it said.
In May, the highest job vacancy rates were in accommodation and food services (4.3%), other services (except public administration) (3.7%) and health care and social assistance (3.4%). Meanwhile, the lowest job vacancy rates were in educational services (1.1%), management of companies and enterprises (1.4%) and information and cultural industries (1.4%), added the federal agency.
More from Retail Insider:
